


Shackled

by Bella88



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Neji's back!, Pining, Post-War, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 15:23:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17449532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bella88/pseuds/Bella88
Summary: Since her teammates death during the war, Tenten has never been the same, but she tries to keep her problems to herself.Little did she know that she was about to see the dead Hyuga again very soon.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone. This is my first story for NejiTen!
> 
> Please leave a comment and tell me what you think. If there is anything you think I should change, let me know.  
> Criticism will only make this story better in future chapters!
> 
> Thanks for reading!

It was a quiet morning in the Leaf village. No upcoming battles, no fear-filled screams or potential war threats at all.

It had been this way ever since the end of the war. For most people, it would have been a wondrous change, but for Tenten, it just meant for an increasing number of boring days.

Don't get her wrong, she was happy that the village was no longer in danger and that there were less people suffering, but it also didn't do well for her weapons shop.  
Just like the name entailed, her little store consisted of the best homemade weapons in the Leaf Village. She had started it not long after the war ended, having needed something to keep her busy. However, that may have been the worst time to open, as she didn't get that many customers.

Business wasn't dead, per say, but it was no where near booming. At least the ANBU troops still needed weapons, but once they bought, it would be a while before she saw them again.

Today though, was her off day. She had closed the store and met up with Sakura. They had made plans to go training, just to let off some steam. Sakura had become a full-time medic at the hospital and was steadily making a name for herself. Tenten wasn't sure how the pink-haired ninja had gotten a day off, but she was more then happy to spend it with her.

Normally Tenten would spend her off days with Lee, who seemed to always be training. So a girl-only day was a nice change in her routine.

It was now noon and the two girls were strolling through the town, bodies tied and sweating. It had been a good workout, Sakura had become a lot stronger over the years and an hour ago, she had proved that she still had it.

Wiping away some sweat from her forehead, Tenten thought back on their spar and smiled with pride at the memory. She had certainly kept up with the medic. She didn't think that she was Tsunade-level yet, but she had also come a long way.

"We should do this again some time," Sakura suggested with a smile as they walked. Turning to return the smile, Tenten envied slightly at the fact that Sakura didn't look half as ruffled as she did.

Maybe it was just a Tenten thing, but she always came out looking like a scruffy mess after a fight.

"You got it," Tenten agreed, more then happy to go against her again soon. It was nice to fight someone different. "Though next time, maybe not aim to crush my bones?" She requested jokingly.

Sakura laughed sheepishly. Maybe she had gone a little overboard, but she would have healed anything she broke! "Done, want to get something to eat? I'm supposed to meet up with Ino for dinner."

"As much fun as hearing Ino Gish about Sai sounds, I think I'll pass," Tenten said. She didn't have anything against the blonde, they were friends, but they had totally different interests in conversion topics.

"Ow, come on!" Sakura pleaded, stepping in front of the brunette. "Don't make me go see her all by myself!"

Tenten laughed at the plea, but remained strong. "I thought you two were supposed to be best friends?"

Huffing, Sakura rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "We are, but if you were there, maybe I could get her to talk about something else once in a while. If I have to hear about how cute Sai's butt is one more time, I might just stab myself with my fork!"

"He had got a cute ass though."

"So not helping!"

Shaking her head at her, Tenten said, "It can't be that bad. Shouldn't you be happy that your teammate found happiness?"

"I am," she insisted. "I just don't wanna hear about it."

"Oh cause hearing you gush about Sasuke was so interesting."

A blush made it's way on Sakura's face, clashing with her pink hair, but somehow she still looked pretty, Tenten noticed dismayingly. When she, herself, blushed, she looked like a fried tomato with buns.

"That's different.."

Giving the medic a gentle punch on the arm, Tenten winked at her and started to walk on. "Sure it is," she said looking back at the still blushing girl.

Sakura quickly caught up with her, a pout present on her face. "Okay, look there's maybe..possibly...another reason I'd like you to come with me.."

Raising a brow at the girl next to her, Tenten waited for her friend to continue.

"Ino knows this guy..."

"Oh no," Tenten blanked at the words. "Sakura no, no-no!"

"Just give it a chance," Sakura continued, trying to stay in step with Tenten, who had started to walk faster.

"I said no!" Tenten stated, getting annoyed.

For the past few months, it had become Sakura and Ino's mission to get her a date. She had hoped this little training session would exclude all that, but she guessed wrong.

"You haven't even met him yet!"

"And what? I should walk over to the cafe looking like a flushed pig?" Tenten asked sarcastically.

"He won't be at the cafe!" Sakura corrected quickly. "Ino just wanted to tell you about him a bit. You can meet him tomorrow, apparently he's really nice."

"Well you just told me about him, I'm good."

"It's not the same, just come with me," Sakura pouted.

Stopping, Tenten turned to look fully at the other girl, letting out a tired sigh. "Why can't you two just drop the whole boyfriend thing? Is it so bad that I'm single?"

Sakura at least looked a bit apologetic at that. "No Tenten, it's just-"

"Just what?"

"We're worried about you, not just us, but Lee too."

Tenten frowned at the indication. "Lee? What's he got to do with this?"

"N-nothing bad," Sakura said, frantically waving her hands. "But he thinks you spend too much time by yourself.. And so do we."

"I run a weapons store!" Tenten defended. "So obviously I'm not gonna be out partying all day!"

"We don't expect you to-heck I don't get to do that either, but the only time you aren't in your shop, your training."

"I am a ninja."

Sakura just stared at her, not taking her reply seriously. And Tenten knew it wasn't a good excuse, but so what? It was her life and she had her reasons for not dating.

"Look," Tenten breathed. "I appreciate the concern, but I really am happy," she smiled to try and convince the other. "I'm just not ready to get into anything like that right now, but when I am...I'll let you know."

Sakura took a moment to examine her face, before reluctantly nodding. "Okay..but you can still come have dinner with us?"

"Sakura."

"Just for dinner, this time."

"Thanks, but I'm just gonna head home, take a bath and head to bed," Tenten shrugged, before smiling at Sakura. "I'll be seeing you?"

Accepting defeat, Sakura nodded and pulled the other into a quick hug, ignoring the smell of the sweat that clung to both of their bodies. "Sure, just think about it okay?"

"No promises."

Letting go of the hug, Sakura waved goodbye, before jogging off into the direction of the cafe.

Shaking her head fondly at the fading pink figure, Tenten turned around and started her walk to her destination.

* * *

 

She had lied to Sakura, when she said she was heading home. She felt bad, but it was only a small, harmless lie. Not something that the other girl or anybody else needed to know.

It had gotten darker now, the sky going black. Tenten walked slowly along the path, not needing to hurry. She knew nobody else would be there at this time, she didn't need to rush. She could stay there as long as she wanted.

The wind blew and Tenten rapped her arms around herself to shield her bare arms. She didn't mind though, ninja's were trained to deal with the cold and it wasn't even that cold out tonight. Just like the day and every other day before that, it was peaceful.

Eventually the young weaponist found herself in the graveyard. Its fields went on forever, hundred of thousands of grave stones stood proudly next to each other. Many of these had come from the war, Tenten thought grimly as she carefully walled through the yard. She had been there when many of them were dug and buried.

It took a while before she made it to the grave she was looking for. The gravestone was still in good condition, not having been there for too long. Flowers were placed in a flask that sat in front of the stone. Tenten had made sure there were always fresh ones. There were some extra ones, she didn't recognise. She guessed Hinata must have visited the gravesite today. Sometimes she would go with her during the day. It didn't happen too often, but it was nice to have the company.

But too be honest, Tenten preferred coming alone. She could talk freely to him, without being judged or pittied. Fuck, she hated to pittied by them and she knew they did, some of them. Those that knew her well enough.

Kneeling down to rub some dirt away from the top piece of the grave, Tenten stared at the name ingraved into the stone.

'Neji Hyuga'. That was the name on the stone. Nothing else was written on it, like all the other gravestones.

Settling down to sit next to the grave, Tenten pulled her legs up towards her chest and held them as she looked up at the sky. She could see stars starting to come out. Not a sound could be heard, except for the crickets in the field. She was all alone here.

"Hey, Neji," Tenten whispered to the sky. "Sorry I'm late. Got into another a bit of an argument with Sakura..."

Turning to look down at the grave, she gave a little smile, almost as if it had forged itself to become her old teammate.

"Don't worry though..we ended it okay."

Silence was the response, but Tenten carried on anyway.

"Sorry, that's probably boring you, huh? My girl problems.."

Again, silence.

"I went training today," she changed the subject, her voice soft. "I've gotten really strong, you'd be impressed. At least, I hope you would be."

Minutes dragged on as she talke d about her day to Neji's grave. She talked about her shop, how she wished the business would pick up. She talked about Rock Lee and how much of a goof ball he still was, but she was happy to have him. How sensei-Gai was doing, even without his legs. He seemed to be okay.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, but it was nice.

"You know Lee really misses you," she said softly. "Gai-sensei too. They don't have to say it, I can tell."

The silence that followed was almost deafening to the weaponist.

"Hinata too, they all do."

Silence.

"...Why did you do it, Neji?"

Silence. She knew why.

"You didn't need to do it, it would have worked out. It always does somehow. You could still be here," her voice starting to rise.

Silence.

Taking in a shaky breath, Tenten said, "You just had to be a hero, didn't you?"

Silence.

"They took it real hard, you know? Lee wouldn't stop crying for days," she said, her hands tightening into fists.

Silence.

"Did you even think about how they would feel!"

The silence only made her angrier.

"And you left me to deal with it!"

Silence.

Clenching her teeth Tenten looked away from the grave, away from where Neji was buried. It always ended up like this. Every time she visited, she would keep up her own conversation, pretending that he was listening. Neji had always been quiet, so it helped her, but eventually her emotions would get the better of her. Hurt, betrayal and anger would slowly creep up inside her, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it.

But she knew it wasn't fair on him. He had done what he thought he needed to do. Naruto had told her everything. She should have been proud of her teammate, who had sacrificed himself for another, he had helped win the war and most importantly, Neji had got what he had always wanted...freedom. She just hated that it took him dying for him to get it, for the world to know how much of a hero he really was.

She had always known he was a hero. Why did he have to prove it?

She was selfish and she knew it, accepted it. She knew he hadn't done it for the fame he would receive after death. He had done it because it was the right thing to do.

But why did it have to be him?

"You left me," Tenten whispered, the fight leaving her. What was the point anyway?

Letting out a deep breath, Tenten swallowed down the her cries and pulled herself off the ground.

She wasn't sure what time it was, but it wasn't like someone was waiting for her at home.

She dusted herself off and after one last looka at his grave, she decided it was time to go.

* * *

 

"Naruto, you can't keep barging in here," Kakashi, the village's Hokage said, rubbing his temple. That headache had nothing to do with the endless amount of paperwork he had been busy with the whole day.

"Don't act like you don't look forward to my visits," the blonde beamed at his sensei as he continued to chow up his ramen.

"I'd look more forward to them, if you didn't do them so frequently."

"It isn't exactly Hokage-like, dobe," Sasuke commented next to the blonde, sipping on his tea.

"You came with me!" Naruto protested, narrowing his eyes at the Uchiha.

"Hn."

"Look you two, don't you have other, more interesting things to do?" Kakashi sighed, watching the two men have their dinners in his office. He had to stay late to finish up the paper work, when Naruto had burst inside, with Sasuke behind him, offering dinner.

Now usually he wouldnt turn down a free meal, but these little visits were starting to rapidly increase in number. It was starting to feel like the blonde had moved in with him.

"Nah, besides what's better then catching up with your sensei?"

"Ex-sensei," Kakashi corrected tiredly, but he didn't understand why he really bothered anymore. "And I don't know..why not take Hinata out to a nice dinner?"

The suggestion caused the blonde to choke on his noodles, blushing at the same time. The colour reminded the elder ninja of the blonde's girlfriend. Perhaps she was rubbing off on him?

"What did I say?"

As Naruto hastily grabbed at his tea to fix his throat, Sasuke took it as his cue to answer in his stead.

"He's scared of being alone with her."

Naruto sent a betrayed glare at the raven, as he golped his drink.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow. "Trouble in Paradise? And I thought you two were doing so well."

Naruto nearly nocked over his plate to defend himself. "It's not like that, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Hmm?"

Scratching his nose awkwardly, Naruto avoided the eye of his Hokage. "It's just..been weird arownd her lately.."

"Weird?" Kakashi repeated, utterly confused. "You, Uzumaki Naruto are accusing your girlfriend of being 'weird'?"

"She did voluntarily chose to be his girlfriend though," Sasuke added, easily dodging a flying fist from the embarrassed blonde.

Kakashi hated to admit it, but Sasuke did have a point.

"Shut up teme! Its not Hinata," Naruto glared, but the blush defeated the look he was going for.

"So then, what is it?"

Turning back to Kakashi, Naruto avoided his gaze as he admitted the problem, mumbling out the words.

"I'm sorry, what?" Kakashi asked, not understanding the gibberish the blonde just voiced.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto whispered, "I'm worried she might want me to kiss her."

It was quiet for a few moments as Kakashi tried to process the sentence, only making the blonde grow redder.

"Heh," Sasuke smirked, resulting in Naruto exploding out words like, "SHUT UP!", "STUPID TEME!" and "YOU WANT TO FIGHT!?"

"Alright, alright," Kakashi firmly said pushing Naruto away from the other boy and back into his seat.

Once Naruto was seated and more calm, Kakashi said. "But I don't see the problem? Didn't you kiss her on the moon?"

Pouting, the blonde admitted, "Yeah, but that was a spur of the moment kinda thing, you know? I didn't think about it, I just did it."

"So do that."

"It's not the same!" Naruto said exasperated, falling back against his chair, defeatedly. "I don't know how I'd even start!"

"Hold on," Kakashi paused, actually thinking it over. "You mean to say, that you haven't kissed her since then?"

Naruto blinked at him confused. "..yeah, so?"

"You've been dating for months, idiot."

"Oh like you are all lovey dovey with Sakura!" Naruto screamed.

"None of your business," Sasuke calmly said and Kakashi had to sigh as the two started another argument. Did they ever stop?

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

 

Tenten walked slowly through the yard, on her way back to the village.

She wasn't bothering to keep her steps quiet or keep up her gaurd. She knew she should, but they barely ever had any intruders anymore and to be honest, she just didn't have the energy.

Suddenly stopping her footsteps, Tenten felt for her bagpack, only to realise that it wasn't there anymore.

Cursing, Tenten swiftly turned around and started to march back to the graves. There wasn't really anything important in it, but if Lee or someone else found it, they would know it was hers and then know she had been there last night.

She didn't want them to worry any more then they already were.

It didn't take long for her to reach Neji's grave, but this time, she chose not to look at it, feeling guilty for yelling at it-Neji for her own problems. Quickly, she reached for the raggy bag and flung it over her shoulders.

Before she could change her mind, Tenten turned away from the grave and once again started the walk to the village.

But not before too many steps, Tenten heard a faint groan. Instantly the weaponist looked behind her, scanning the area for anyone nearby.

It didn't nessasarily have to be an enemy, Tenten told herself. It could be someone from the village, that had the same idea as her to visit the graves.

The night's shadow made it difficult to see anything in the area, besides the graves. She couldn't hear anything else either.

Had she imagined it?

Taking one more look around, Tenten decided that it had been all in her head. She really needed to get some sleep. These little night visits weren't exactly agreeable with her body.

Turning back towards the Village, Tenten proceeded to walk, but than an unmistakable grunt was heard behind her. Automatically, Tenten took out two small daggers and ran towards the sound, going behind one of the graves.

What she saw though, had the weaponist drop her daggers in shock, her own body suddenly frozen still.

There, sagged against the back of a gave stone was the Hyuga she had been 'talking to' for the past few years.

Pale, confused eyes slowly opened to look up at the girl and Tenten almost fainted.

"N-Neji?"

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neji wakes up.

**Chapter 2**

 

“I can’t believe he threw us out!” Naruto, the village’s favorite hero complained. It had gotten quite dark in the village now and he and Sasuke Uchiha were walking away from the Hokage tower, Naruto with a sour look on his face, while the other male seemed neutral.

“Hn,” Sasuke replied, not really listening to what his friend was saying.

“I mean, so _what_ if we came over ‘unannounced’?” the blonde huffed, his pout only thickening. “Bushy Brows practically lives with his sensei! Why can’t we spend some time with our old one?”

“You _did_ break his favorite lamp, dobe,” Sasuke sighed, rolling his eyes at the other man. After finishing their meal, Naruto had started to boast about one of his battle stories. It was all fine until the idiot decided to show the Hokage how he had perfected his kick and accidentally knocked over one of the lamps in the room. Kakashi had practically pushed them out the door after that. To be honest though, Sasuke didn’t think his old sensei was really all that mad about it. He probably just used it as an excuse to get the two of them out of his office.

“I offered to buy him a new one...” Naruto continued to sulk and Sasuke let out another sigh. The idiot may have grown up a bit, but he was still that same idiot he had been when they were twelve. Somethings never change.

The two walked in silence for a while, before getting to one of the crossroads. Sasuke didn’t stop to say goodbye, instead just casually turning down one road. Naruto, though, still heading straight, noticed his turn and quickly jogged over to catch up with him.

“Oi!” Naruto called over, coming to walk beside the raven. “Where you going? I thought we were gonna head over to my house for some cards?”

Sasuke didn’t spare him a look, as he continued his easy pace. “It’s late dobe, I’m going home.”

Naruto frowned at him, before jumping In front of him, forcing the Uchiha to a stand still. “Oh come on,” he begged, ignoring the annoyed look he received. “What are you gonna do at home? Isn’t Sakura still at work?”

“She’s off today.”

“Really? I didn’t know that!” Naruto smiled excitedly. “Why don’t we get her to come with, you know? Make it a team seven thing?”

Sasuke continued to stare annoyingly at Naruto, trying to keep his patience. 

“Come on,” Naruto grinned, showing off his teeth. “I’ve got ramen.”

It was a wonder how the blonde still thought that that statement could change the Uchiha’s mind. It never worked before and he very much doubted it ever would.

“Okay-okay,” Naruto continued hurriedly when he got no response. “Then how about we head over there instead, huh?” he’s grin returned full force. “We can hang out at your place.”

Sasuke’s teeth clenched at the new idea, and quickly spoke to shut it down. “No.”

Naruto, to his dismay wasn’t listening though, or more like ignoring, because he had already started to walk in the direction of the Uchiha’s house. Sighing, Sasuke gave in and called out, “All right, we can go to your house.” It was the better choice. If Naruto came to his house, he’d never get rid of the blonde, but at least if he went to Naruto’s house, he could leave...eventually.

Naruto instantly turned around to smile cheekily to his friend and Sasuke lip twitched upwards for a second, before going back to it’s neutral expression. The sneaky fox had tricked him. It actually kind of amused the Uchiha. Perhaps Naruto had changed more than he thought.

The two ninjas started to head back up the road, but they didn’t get very far, when they heard someone screaming out to them.

“Naruto! Naruto!”

Both men stopped and looked out to see Choji running towards them.

“Choji?” Naruto said, confused as he and Sasuke watched the male ninja run up to them, before falling to his knees and wheezing.

“Choji!?” Naruto said surprised and leaned down to rest his hands on his friends shoulders. The man looked exhausted, but a quick once over and the blonde hero internally sighed in relieve at seeing that there were no wounds anywhere on his body. “Are you okay? What’s going on?” Naruto continued to ask, as he watched the man try to catch his breath. “Is it Shikamaru or Ino?”

Choji shook his head, his breaths coming in quick huffs. “N- _wheeze-_ No..the h-hospital. Y-you need to.. _huff._ ”

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He looked up to give a questioning look to the Uchiha next to him, but Sasuke only raised an eyebrow. Turning back to the team ten member, Naruto’s heart skipped a beat, before he asked fearfully. “I-is it Hinata?” He breathed out in relief when Choji shook his head again.

Choji’s breath slowly seemed to ease and he was able to get some words out, looking up at the blonde urgently. “Y-you need to get to the hospital.”

“Why?” Naruto frowned. “Choji, what’s going on?”

Breathing out, Choji replied. “I was passing by the hospital, when I saw Tenten. She was carrying somebody over her back. She looked really panicked!”

“So?” Sasuke asked, folding his arms. Naruto sent a non-amused frown his way.

“It was just,” he seemed to hesitate, before looking confusedly up at the blonde. “T-the guy she was carrying. He looked a lot like Neji...”

* * *

 

Tenten slumped against the hospital wall, her eyes unblinking as she voidly stared at the door in front of her. She was tired. Her legs hurt from running so fast with the added weight on her back, but she refused to sit down or go back home. Usually she could handle it, but her body was still in shock.

It was Neji.

Tenten’s fist tightened at the memory of seeing the thought-to-be-dead Hyuga laying against a grave stone. She hadn’t known what to do when she saw him. When he had looked back up at her with those confused eyes, she wanted to scream. He was _dead._ Neji was _supposed_ to be dead! She, of all people, knew that, but when she saw him, there was no doubt in her mind that it was her teammate.

She hadn’t had a chance to calm down enough to even say a word to him, before the Hyuga had fainted, his body sagging lifeless against the stone. It terrified her. Tenten had acted on reflex and carried the man to the hospital. A smart ninja would have examined him. Made sure he was the real thing or just some transformation jutsu, but not Tenten. Nothing else mattered or came to mind at that moment. All that mattered was that it _was_ Neji and he was hurt.

It was Neji.

‘ _Neji,’_ Tenten’s thought’s echoed. How was it possible? She had been to his funeral. His body was supposed to be underground. How?

“Tenten?”

The kunoichi reluctantly and slowly turned her head to the direction of the hesitant voice. Sakura stared back at her, her eyes seemed to mapping her out, trying to read her thoughts.

“Tenten..I heard-I…Is it true?” the pink-haired medic struggled to get her words out. She had stopped by the hospital to pick up some paperwork she’d forgotten about, when she saw some of the nurses running through the halls. That’s when she heard them mention Neji’s name. At first she had been confused, but it wasn’t until after one of the other medics told her that Tenten had brought in a Hyuga male and had yelled that ‘Neji needs help!’.

Tenten only stared blankly at Sakura and Sakura was worried if the other girl was even really looking at her or just looking through her. The medic noted the paleness of her skin, her eyes looked swollen, rimmed red, but Sakura was sure that Tenten hadn’t been crying, only holding them back.

“Tenten, I-”

“Neji.”

Sakura stopped short at the name leaving Tenten’s lips. “Oh Tenten.”

Tenten’s eyes seemed far away, going back to when she saw the Hyuga in the graveyard. “It was Neji, Sakura,” her lips agape after she let those words slip out. The kuniochi blinked and finally brought her wide-eyed focus on the medic. “Sakura, I found him.” her words becoming rushed. “I found him, he was alive. Sakura he looked at me..I..”

Not waiting another second, Sakura ran over to the now shaking girl and pulled her into her arms. “It’s okay,” Sakura tried to calm the quivering girl in her arms, tightening her arms when she felt her friend’s shoulders start to shake. “It’s alright.”

Tenten didn’t fight the hug, but she didn’t cry either, only her body reacted. As Sakura held her, Tenten’s eyes drifted back towards the door.

“Sakura!” Naruto called as he ran around the corner, and saw his teammate, Sasuke behind him. Both men ran over to the medic who still held the shocked girl. When they were close enough, Naruto’s eyes shot down to Tenten, who didn’t even acknowledge them.

“Is it true?” Naruto whispered, his gaze soft on Tenten. When she didn’t answer, he looked at Sakura.

Sakura looked looked back wordlessly and gave a small nod.

Naruto’s eyes widened in shock, before looking at the door that Tenten was staring at. “Is...is he in there?”

“He’s being treated, yes.” Sakura answered carefully as she watched the girl in her arms.

“Have you seen him?” Sasuke’s monotone asked, his eyes tuned on his fiance.

Sakura shook her head. She hadn’t been on duty today and so wasn’t permitted to see another medic’s patients. She was as clueless as they were. She wasn’t even sure how long Tenten had been here, waiting outside this door.

“How is it even possible?” Naruto asked, looking at the door, wishing he could see through it.

“Are we sure it’s not some trick?”

“Sasuke!” Sakura hissed, to which she got a narrowed glare in return from the Uchiha.

“No, he’s right,” Naruto said, his hands clenching into fists. “I saw Neji die with my own eyes. I saw his being buried.”

“We all did, Naruto,” Sakura whispered, giving him a pleading look to stop talking. Yes, they had to make sure it wasn’t an intruder. It was almost impossible for it not to be, but this, right now, was not the time for that kind of talk.

“Maybe it was just another Hyuga,” Sasuke interjected. Didn’t they all look similar?

“No,” Tenten suddenly spoke, drawing all eyes to her. Slowly, she removed herself from the medic’s embrace, before looking back at the Uchiha, her eyes determined and sure. “It’s Neji, I saw him.”

“Tenten..” Sakura voiced as Sasuke frowned at the small brunette.

“Are you sure, Tenten?” Naruto asked, his voice small and uncertain. When Tenten turned to look at him, she was surprised to see that look on his face. Naruto has always had a trait of being confident and reassuring, but in that moment, he didn’t.

“I am,” she whispered and Naruto’s eye’s widened. They stared at each other for a while and Tenten was sure that the blonde was trying to find some doubt in her eyes, but he didn’t. She knew her teammate more then anyone else. If anybody could spot him, it was her.

“He’s back,” Naruto breathed and Tenten couldn’t help the smile that spread out on her face. He believed her.

* * *

 

Naruto wasn’t sure how long they had waited there in the hospital’s hallway, just staring at that door. He, Tenten, Sasuke and Sakura hadn’t left that same spot since they got there.

The blonde let out an exhausted sigh, before looking over to where Sakura and Sasuke were on his left side. Sasuke was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, eyes closed, but Naruto was sure that he was probably more aware of his surroundings then any of them. Naruto wasn’t exactly sure why Sasuke was so intent of staying. He knew the Uchiha wasn’t a bad person, but Sasuke never really knew Neji and he doubted he really cared whether the Hyuga was living or not, but maybe he was just interested in how someone who was supposed to be dead was now in that room, breathing.

It wouldn’t be the first person they saw come back to life, but that didn’t make it normal.

Moving his eyes down to Sakura, he saw the pink-haired girl sitting on the floor, her knees brought up close to her chest as she rested her arms around them. ‘ _She’s tired,’_ Naruto thought sympathetically. He was too. It must be the shock or the anticipation. A smile grassed the Blonde’s lips at the sight of his female teammate. Of cause she would stay here too. She was friends with Neji too and he knew there was no way she would leave Tenten here by herself.

Sakura let out a small yawn, before tilting her head up and then leaning it against the leg of the Uchiha next to her. Naruto noticed how Sasuke’s opened at the feeling and how he quickly looked down at his fiance, before closing his eyes again.

‘ _Softy,’_ Naruto smiled, before looking back at the door in front of him. His mind still doubted that it was really Neji inside the room. He wanted to believe it and hearing how sure Tenten had been only made him want to believe it more. He half did, but he had to be smart. If it was an intruder, not only would this man be able to hurt the village, but also he would be violating the name of Neji.

Naruto wouldn’t allow that. Not for a second.

His mind suddenly shifted to Hinata. He knew that he should go get her, let her know what was happening, but he couldn’t, not yet. He was actually surprised that Sakura hadn’t demanded for him to go to the Hyuga compound yet. Maybe she felt the same way he did. He just wanted to make sure. He didn’t want Hinata to come here with false hope. Not after what she went through with her cousin all those years ago.He had even made Choji promise him that he wouldn’t tell anybody else about it, at least not until they got some answers.

A shift of movement to his right, made Naruto look over at the only other person waiting with them. Tenten. She hardly moved or spoke again since Naruto came here. Her eyes were hollow, tired, but they stayed glued to the door. He wanted to ask her where or how she had found the Hyuga, but he decided it would be better to wait.

Reaching out, Naruto rested his hand on the weaponist’s shoulder and offered a smile when she looked up at him. “You okay?” he couldn’t help but ask. It was a stupid question, he knew that, but he didn’t want her to be upset. 

“I’m fine,” Tenten softly smiled back and Naruto swore that if this guy _was_ a fake, he would make him pay. His friends didn’t need this kind of reminder of the grief they had to go through.

“Maybe we should get something to eat?” Sakura suggested from the floor, lifting her head off of her fiance’s leg to stare up at the other two ninjas. “We’ll probably be here for a while.”

Naruto smiled down at her, nodding his head. “I could eat.” They should take a break. Whoever was inside wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

With a tired smile, Sakura looked up Sasuke and reached up one of her hand to him. The Uchiha gave her a pointed look, but reached down to take her hand with his only one, easily and gently pulling her up to her feet, before turning to head down the hallway.

Naruto took a step to join them, but paused to look back at Tenten, who hadn’t moved yet. “You coming?” he asked.

Tenten looked at him uncertainly, before looking back at the door, seeming unsure.

“Tenten? Naruto?” Sakura called, a little further down the hall when she noticed they weren’t following them and started to jog back up to them, while Sasuke stayed put.

“Um,” Tenten started, her eyes going back and forth between Naruto and Sakura, biting her lip nervously. “Actually...I think I’m just gonna hang back here.”

“Aren’t you hungry?” Naruto asked gently, his eyebrow raising.

Sakura pushed passed Naruto, earning a grunt, before carefully taking Tenten’s hand. “You sure?” Leaning forward, Sakura whispered, “I’ll make Sasuke pay,” she smiled, hoping to get the other girl to come along. She wasn’t sure if Tenten had even had anything to drink after their training session.

Tenten let out a small laugh, almost an amused huff, before gently squeezing Sakura’s hand. “No, that’s okay. I’m actually not that hungry...I just,” her eyes moved back to the door.

Sakura’s smile slowly vanished. “Tenten..”

Turning back to her, Tenten gave a strained smile, Sakura figured was for her own reassurement. “It’s okay, really. Go get something to eat,” Looking over at Naruto, she added, “I bet Naruto’s starving.”

Before Sakura could complain, Naruto placed his hand on the pink-haired ninja’s shoulder, stopping any further argument. “Sure thing,” the blonde grinned back at Tenten, his eyes glowing with compassion. “We’ll bring you something back?”

Tenten nodded gratefully back. “Cool, thanks.”

“But-” Sakura started.

“No problem,” Naruto interjected, pulling the other girl along with him as he started to walk over to where Sasuke was still waiting. “Be back soon,” he voiced over his shoulder, ignoring the annoyed look Sakura was shooting him. She was probably gonna let him have it when they were out of ear shot. Naruto instantly cringed at the thought, but he stood by his choice. Tenten needed some time along to clear her thoughts. He knew the feeling all too well with Jiraiya died. She needed to process what had happened and it wouldn’t do her any good if they were standing there with her. No, Naruto decided. They would give her some time and be back in an hour or so to see Neji, that is if he was awake by then.

 

Tenten watched the three ninja’s walk out of her view, Sakura still stealing glances back at her, before Naruto pulled her around the corner.

A breathy sigh left Tenten’s lips when she was alone, grateful that Naruto had taken Sakura with him. She loved the medic, but she wasn’t in the right state of mind for other people right now and she didn’t want to leave this spot. She wanted to wait. She wanted to be the first to see Neji. A selfish thought, yes, but she had been the one to find him, the one that brought him here. She was also his teammate! Didn’t that give her any right to see him first?

Shaking her head out of the childish nonsense, Tenten looked back at the damn door. The only thing keeping her away from the man inside, the man that she had thought she had been speaking to this whole time, every night, but she had been wrong. A million questions ran through her head. If Neji had survived, whose body had been buried? If this was the real Neji, how come he hadn’t returned to the village years ago? Why did they only find him now and why did he look they way he did?

 

Tenten let out another shaky breath, when she realized how tense her body was, her hands forming tight fists. She was riling herself up and she needed to calm down. She would eventually get her answers, but for now..she had to be there for Neji.

It only took another few minutes when _finally,_ the door opened and two nurses walked out. Tenten immediately straightened up, looking at both nurses expectantly, but they only gave her quick glances, before hurrying down the hallway.

“Hey wait!” Tenten called out to them, but they just ignored her. “Damn it-”

“Miss Tenten?”

Tenten quickly turned back towards the door, to see one of the other top medics in the hospital. He was no Sakura, but the man had a decent reputation. He was new to the village and Sakura had said he was a nice enough guy and that she admired his skills, but Tenten wasn’t interested. Now didn’t change anything.

“How is he?” Tenten asked strongly, looking directly into his eyes. Her neck ached to look a bit to the side, in hopes of seeing the sleeping Hyuga, but she was scared. She hated to admit it, but she was scared to see him laying on the bed, in fear of his dead body.

The medic blinked down at her rude tone, but seemed to let it go. “He’ll be alright,” he confirmed and Tenten felt a weight being lifted off her shoulders. Neji was alright. “He just needs some rest. Actually, he had no damage to his body.”

Tenten’s eyes widened at the news, looking confused and a little annoyed at the man. “Then...why were you guys in there for so long?”

“His chakra level was dangerously low,” he explained, “We were trying to bring it back up, but his body seemed to reject it.”

“Reject it?”

The medic nodded, seeming confused too. “Strange, but he’s slowly recovering. I’m sure he’ll wake up soon too,” he said, looking down at her. “We checked for any other problems or injuries, but it all looks fine. He probably just over-exerted himself during training. You should try to keep him under control next time.”

Tenten bit her tongue, her body tensing once more at the statement. Neji hasn’t been here in forever, but the medic didn’t know that, she couldn’t snap at him for it.

Sensing her inner turmoil, the medic cleared his throat. “ _Uh-hem_ , uhh, would you like to see him?”

Tenten’s eyes shot over to inside the room, going wide. She couldn’t see anything, but a window.  
  
“He’s still asleep, but like I said, he should wake soon,” he continued, eyeing her cautiously.

Swallowing, Tenten nodded, her eyes still on the room, barely hearing the doctor say that he would give her some privacy, before walking off. Steeling herself, Tenten stepped into the room.

It looked like any other hospital room in the hospital, small and clean. Tenten didn’t bother wasting time on that though, her eyes landing instantly on the Hyuga. What she saw, made her freeze all over again. Neji was laying under the white blankets of the bed. His expression was soft, almost like he was dreaming something peaceful. Not something like a man that been been previously dead until about a few hours ago would look like.

Tenten slowly, if a bit fearfully, walked over to the side of his bed, her eyes never leaving the sleeping man. She watched the way his chest lifted and fell. He was breathing. Tenten swallowed the lump in her throat at the indication. Neji really was alive and he was right there in front of her.

Hesitantly, Tenten moved to sit on the bed, right next to her teammate, her body facing him. She didn’t do much else but stare at him for a while. He didn’t look at all like a man that had gone through death. He was just a bit pale, but other then that, he looked fine. Perfectly fine and Tenten found herself smiling. Not a forced or pained one, but a real one.

She suddenly _needed_ to touch him. Just to feel that he really was here and that this wasn’t a dream and that she wouldn’t wake up to find him gone again.

A shaky hand moved up to let a finger graze his cheek and Tenten couldn’t help the happy, watery gasp she let out at that moment. “Neji,” she breathed out as she leaned closer to look at him. The Hyuga gave no response back, but it was enough to see him still breathing. It was wonderful.

Tenten shifted a bit closer up to the man and gently moved her hand to stroke through some of his hair. It was dirty and a bit greasy, but still as soft and beautiful as she remembered it. She kept going back to his eyes, hoping to see him staring back up at her or speak to her. She wanted to hear his voice again, even if it was just a stubborn remark she knew he would always give her. Tenten continued to play with his hair, gently moving it away from his face. That’s when she saw it...or rather didn’t see it. Her eyes widened at the sight of his bare forehead. “The marking...” Tenten breathed. His marking, the caged bird seal was gone.

Her fingers gently traced his forehead astonished, her eyes searching for the Hyuga seal. There really was no trace left of the mark. She didn’t get to think to much on it though, because Neji took that moment to let out a tired grunt.

Tenten’s hand instantly shot back from his forehead, but she remained seated on the bed, her eyes moving down to look at his face, her breath caught in her chest.

Neji’s eyebrows furrowed, his eyes clenching tighter when he started to fully wake up. It was only when the Hyuga’s unfocused eyes slowly opened that Tenten released the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Neji was now staring back up at her, his eyes slowly coming into focus.

“Tenten?” his low voice whispered, a bit gruffly, but Tenten thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

“Neji,” Tenten’s voice cracked, her eyes starting to water.

Neji only looked more confused at his teammate’s expression, his eyes blinking a couple times up at her. Why was she crying? “Tenten?” Neji tried again, this time a bit smoother, but he still sounded so tired and Tenten couldn’t help but laugh through an escaped sob. She couldn’t help it, it felt so good to hear his voice saying her name again.

Before she had the chance to stop herself, Tenten leaned down to hug the laying Hyuga, her arms going to lay against his chest, her hands gripping into his hospital clothes. She felt the man’s body stiffen in shock at the action. She knew Neji was never the type for physical contact, but he would just have to find a way to deal with it for now. There was no way she could let go. Her head moved to rest next to his neck as she squeezed him into the hug. 

“Tenten?” came Neji’s surprised voice and Tenten smiled widely, her hold only tightening. It was only when she felt his cold, strong hands gently wrapping around her, that she realized she was crying. Her shoulders shacked along with her sobs and it felt good, so Tenten continued, letting her tears soak up into Neji’s pillow.

‘ _He’s okay,’_ Tenten kept repeating in her head. Neji was okay. He was alive and he was right here with her.

 

He was here.

* * *

 

**If only Neji was really still alive! :(**

 

**That’s chapter two! Please review and let me know what you guys think!**

**Next chapter will be out soon, probably before Friday.**  


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

Tenten twiddled nervously with her fingers as she sat on the bed, while Neji sipped on the glass of water she had just given him. She had eventually calmed down a little while ago and to be completely honest...she was a bit embarrassed.

She shouldn’t be. That’s what she kept telling herself. Given what she’d been through, she was allowed to cry like some pathetic little baby in front of him. Him, being the man she had thought she’d lost a few years back. If anything she should be angry that Neji was back. What had he been doing for so many years instead of coming back home and proving that he wasn’t actually dead?

She wasn’t actually angry though. She wanted to be, but she wasn’t. At least maybe not yet. Right now, she was just _so_ happy to have him back. Scared too, but happy. There were a lot of unanswered questions. Besides, she had a feeling that getting angry with the Hyuga man wouldn’t do much good. Neji wasn’t the type of man that wouldn’t just disappear for no reason. She badly wanted to ask him, but considering that whatever he had been doing had made him faint of exhaustion, she thought it would be best to save those questions for another day. He still needed rest and honestly she was happy enough to just _see him_ right now.

After pulling herself together, Tenten had nervously apologized to her dumbfounded teammate, before quickly changing the subject to him being thirsty. Before Neji had a chance to respond or ask questions, Tenten had untangled herself from his loose arms and swooped over to the other side of the room, where the nurses had supplied a jug of water and a glass, before pouring some in said glass and handing it over to the skeptical man.

Despite her embarrassment, Tenten couldn’t help but sneak in a few glances at the Hyuga, just to make sure he was still there. Glancing back again, Tenten automatically tensed when she found he was staring back at her – he was frowning- but he was looking at her. She felt her chest clench once again at the sight, but pushed it down, like she had been doing for years. She had never been the type to cry in front of people, especially her team. She didn’t like making others worry.

Instead of turning away this time, Tenten held his gaze and couldn’t help the small, hesitant smile that formed on her lips. Her smile grew slightly wider when the man raised a questioning eyebrow her way. She almost forgotten how sour he could look.

“Are you going to tell me why you were crying?”

His voice made the young women smile more, this time softly. How long had it been since she heard Neji form a full sentence?

“Even tough girls cry,” Tenten whispered, her eyes falling back down to her fingers, avoiding his own.

“I know that,” his reply was soft and Tenten allowed another peak at him. He had set his cup down on the bedside table and was now watching her intently and if she wasn’t mistaken, with a bit of worry.

Tenten wanted to ironically laugh at that look. Why should he be worried about her? He had been the one who’d been ‘dead’ for years. Who knows what he’d been through? Unless maybe that worry was for himself and what she might do to him later.

“Tenten..” His worried voice said again and it was music to her ears to hear him whisper her name. The way he said though, made her realize that another tear had escaped and was sliding down her cheek.

Furiously, Tenten whipped away the stray tear, mentally scolding herself for letting him see her cry. Hearing and feeling her cry was one thing, but seeing it was another, although she was certain her eyes must be red and puffy from earlier. She just hoped it wasn’t too noticeable.

“I’m fine,” she assured, lowing her hand from her cheek, once she was sure no more tears would come out. “...I guess I’m just in shock..”

It was silent for a while and she knew he was giving her another unconvinced look, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze. She’d probably just burst into tears again if they just stared at each other. It was normal for her to be upset when he had been gone for so long. She didn’t want to think. For once, she was glad that he was the non-prying type.

“...How long was I out?” Neji voiced, breaking the awkward silence.

“Not long,” Tenten whispered back, finding some interest in her training pants. “I only brought you in a couple hours ago.”

In the corner of her eye, she saw him nod. “..How is Lee?”

Tenten turned to look properly at him again. “Lee?” she asked, now confused. Had Neji seen Lee before arriving in the village graveyard? If that was true, why hadn’t Lee stayed with him or send out a message?

Neji raised an eyebrow at her once more. “Did Lee not partake?” he asked, his expression going concentrated, seemingly trying to remember something. “Then was it just the two of us? I was sure there were two others..”

“Partake? Two of us?” Tenten repeated, only getting more lost. She watched as Neji slowly brought a hand up to rest against his closed eyelids, his expression pained. “Neji?” Tenten asked, softly urgent. Her hand shot out to gently touch his lifted arm, her eyes searching him for anything painful.

Neji’s teeth clenched tight for a for seconds, before slowly opening his eyes again to look at her, moving his fingers a few inches away from his face. “Neji?” Tenten’s hold on his arm tightened at the lost look he gave her, but the look disappeared almost as fast as it came. What replaced it was a look she had never seen on his face before.

The Hyuga’s mouth opened and closed and Tenten was ready to call the medic again, before he answered. “Where..where is Naruto and Hinata?”

“They’re fine, if that’s what you mean?” Tenten answered slowly, cautiously.

“I think I need to see them..?” Neji voiced and Tenten noted that he was talking more to himself then to her. Why was Neji asking all these weird questions?

“Uh..Neji, are you feeling alright?” she asked, her hand slowly moving from his arm to his forehead to check his temperature.

She jumped however, when his own hand caught hers just before she was able to touch him.

“What are you doing?” Neji frowned, but his eyes were still calculating.

“I-I was just going to check your temperature..” she explained carefully, her heart pumping in worry and from being startled. “I wanted to check, cause...you seem kinda out of it.”

Neji blinked and Tenten held her breath. She watched him slowly relax his body and his hold on her hand, eventually letting her go.

“I’m..sorry,” Neji looked away from her, looking angry with himself. “Force of habit.”

Tenten had to think for a moment about what he meant, but when it came to her, her eyes moved to his forehead. Neji had always hidden his mark, the Caged Bird Seal. He never once let anyone touch it either, but why would it matter now?

The weaponist moved her eyes to look fully at him. Neji seemed to still be fighting something within himself and her eye’s widened when one of his hands slowly moved to touch his forehead.

‘Is it possible?’ Tenten thought tensely. Did Neji not know that the seal was gone? She didn’t know much about the curse mark, besides what Neji had told her. What she remembered of it was that it was only removed through death, which is why she had been so shocked earlier when she saw it was missing. Was it possible that Neji didn’t know it was gone either? It seemed impossible. It had been years since his apparent ‘death’, he should have been able to look at his reflection during that time. Then again, Tenten reminded herself that she still didn’t know what Neji had been doing during those few years.

And looking at the way he was reacting, she was worried that he didn’t know that the mark was actually gone.

“Neji..” Tenten voiced and she paused when he brought his confused eyes to look back at her. “The curse mark...um,” she hesitated at his stare. “You do know that it’s...gone?”

She held her breath when Neji didn’t answer right away, her body tensing when his gaze became intense.

“..that’s not something to joke about Tenten,” Neji breathed, looking a bit hurt that she would mention it like that, but he hid it almost completely. It was too bad for him that she knew him too well.  


Tenten’s hands tightened around the blanket underneath her at his answer. ‘He doesn’t know.’ “Neji really-”

“Enough, Tenten,” Neji ordered, frowning at her, before closing his eyes and letting out a sigh. Tenten knew he was trying to calm himself and let go of some annoyment he was probably feeling. He had done it many times in the past. Usually she would laugh at him or call him out on it, wanting to tease him a bit, but now she wanted him to listen.

Neji let out a surprised grunt, when Tenten gently grabbed both his cheeks and forced him to look at her, her eyes pleading for him to listen. “Listen to me,” she whispered and Neji’s eyes narrowed at her, but didn’t move away from her. Biting her lip nervously, Tenten took that as permission and hesitantly started to trace her fingers up to his forehead. She barely rubbed over his temple. She would have blushed from the proximity and from touching him so familiarly, but this was too important. Her eyes moved away from his forehead to back to his eyes, that were slightly widened in shock and confusion.

“Neji,” Tenten tried again, her fingers stopping their movement to continue her words. “Your mark...it’s gone.” Her fingers then shakily slipped off of his forehead and retreated back towards her chest as she worriedly watched the still man.

He didn’t say anything for a while, maybe trying to comprehend her words. She saw realization flash in his void-coloured eyes and Tenten knew that he would believe her. He knew deep down that she would never joke about his mark. The thing that he hated so much. None of his friends or teammates would mock it.

“Are you okay?” she asked nervously as she watched him bring a shaky hand up to touch his bare forehead, his expression indescribable. His fingers moved over it, almost trying to feel for the seal.

“I-I need to see my uncle,” he stuttered, all-un-Neji-like, and started to pull the blankets off of him.

Tenten’s heart stopped for a second at the sudden movement, but she was too late to keep him seated, his body moving too fast. The girl quickly jumped off the bed herself and placed her hands firmly on Neji’s chest, blocking the now standing man. “Hold on!” she warned, her eyes moving to look up at him. Strange, had Neji always been this tall?

“I’m fine,” Neji grunted, bringing Tenten out of her thoughts to see him wince at using so much effort. Despite his words, Tenten felt her teammate’s body stumble for second, before she instinctively caught him before he fell.

“You need to rest, Neji,” Tenten said, the first time she ever said that to anybody but Lee. “Please, the medic said that you were very low on chakra,” she tried to reasoned, while she helped the Hyuga sit back down on the bed.

Neji visibly softened at the plea, finally realizing that his teammate really was worried about him. He allowed himself to be settled on the bed, his head spinning suddenly and his body felt so heavy. Had he really been so careless to use so much of his chakra?

“Relax Neji,” Tenten almost begged.

Neji looked up at her to see her worried, desperate expression, before his eyes looked down to where his hands were resting on his knees. They were shaking. In an attempt to calm himself, Neji gripped his hospital clothes, but it didn’t stop the shaking. Closing his eyes, the Hyuga tried to sort out his scattered thoughts. What was wrong with him? He almost never lost his composure like this, especially not in front of a teammate.

“Sorry,” he breathed, feeling hopeless and he hated it. “I’m just so confused..”

Tenten’s eyes softened at the helplessness she heard in his voice. Tenten came down to her knees to kneel down in front of the Hyuga so that she could look at him properly. His eyes were still shut tight, his eyebrows furrowed. Her heart clenched. She reached out to place her hands over his shaking ones, holding them comfortingly. Soon she saw pale eyes looking back at her.

“It’s supposed to be there,” he told her, his eyes wrinkling in confusion. “It only leaves when I die..” he said softly, uncertain. “I’m not dead, Tenten.”

The words triggered something in Tenten and another tear escaped, running down her cheek. She didn’t bother to wipe it away, instead clinging to his hands.

Neji’s eyes followed it and she struggled to keep the cry in at the look he gave her.

“What happened to you?” she breathed out weakly, before she could stop it. She hadn’t wanted to ask until he was feeling better, but he was making her so worried. She wanted to help him. She wanted to understand.

Neji’s eyes lingered on her damp cheek a moment longer, before meeting her eyes again. “I don’t know.”

* * *

 

Naruto drummed his fingers fingers against the hospital’s cafeteria table, his other hand supporting his head. His eyes were directed a bit off in the distance to where Sakura was busy gathering an extra packet of food for Tenten, as promised.

They, themselves had already eaten, and on any other night, Naruto would have gone on about how surprisingly good the hospital’s food was, but that was just it. It wasn’t a normal night.

The blonde closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh, lifting his head from his one hand. They had been in the cafeteria for over an hour now. He had gotten a mouthful from Sakura about them just leaving Tenten there, despite his reasoning. The pink-haired medic just wouldn’t listen to them. Eventually Sasuke had so annoyed with their bickering and ended it.

Naruto had never been more grateful.

That lead the trio to silently and awkwardly gathering random piles of food and eating in complete and utter silence, but it wasn’t like there wasn’t anything to think about either.

“We should start heading back,” Sasuke said next to the blonde.

Another slow glance at the clock on the wall nearby and Naruto found himself nodding in agreement. He had given Tenten more than the time he silently promised. He knew it would never be enough to satisfy her nerves, but he hoped that it did at least helped some. Besides, he wanted to see Neji. He still had no clue what was going on and it was already passed midnight.

The blonde startled when a heavy, white bag suddenly _plopped_ down on the table in front of him. Looking up over the bag, he came eye to eye with a still very pissed off Sakura.

But was he about to crumble down to his knees and beg for forgiveness? No way! He was no longer the little boy that coward at her rage, he did help end the Fourth Shinobi War after all.

...He just hoped she wouldn’t punch him again.

“If you two are going to start again, I’m going home,” Sasuke warned, his voice tired and annoyed.

Sakura held Naruto’s stare with her own glare for a second longer, before sighing in defeat and Naruto almost thanked Sasuke in relief.

“You’re right,” she whispered, before offering an apologetic smile to Naruto, who returned one of his own. Resting her hands on her hips, Sakura then turned to look at the clock, her lips frowning at the time. “I wonder if they’re done yet?”

“He must be really knocked up if they’re taking so long with him,” Naruto pondered aloud.

“You don’t actually believe this guy is really the Hyuga, do you?” Sasuke voiced and Naruto frowned at him.

“Why not?” Naruto asked, his body straightening in his seat. “It’s not like people haven’t come back before, right?”

“They were also mindless zombies,” Sasuke scoffed.

“What about Obito,” Naruto defended, crossing his arms.

“That wasn’t really ‘coming back from the dead’, Naruto,” Sakura corrected, her voice reasoning. “Obito’s body was never buried, his case was more of a misunderstanding.”

Naruto looked confused and a bit surprised at his female teammate. “Sakura...you agree with Sasuke?”

Sakura frowned at him, before avoiding his gaze, instead tying a knot on the packet. “I don’t agree with _anyone._ I haven’t even seen him yet,” she said, looking back at him again. “What I do know is that we need to be careful around Tenten. She won’t admit it, but she’s still grieving and ‘Neji’ coming back isn’t helping.”

Sasuke frowned at that, before pushing his seat back and standing up. “It’s been years, If she’s a real kurnoichi, she should be able to handle this.”

“Teme,” Naruto almost hissed from his seat. Years after coming home and his friend still lacked human sympathy.

“It isn’t just her feeling on the line,” Sasuke calmly said, his eyes narrowing at the blonde. “She should be able to see that.”

“It isn’t always easy to accept losing someone you care for, Sasuke,” Sakura whispered, looking at him with strong, but sad eyes. The look made the Uchiha pause. Naruto watched uncomfortably as he watched the wordless exchange go on between the couple. Before long, Sasuke gave in, deciding to take the conversation no further. With a quick nod, the raven man picked up the packet of food.

Sakura smiled softly, thankfully at him, before moving around the table to stand next to him. “Come on, Naruto,” she said to her still-seated friend. “I want to check on Tenten.”

Naruto sighed, before nodding too and stood up to join them in the slow walk back to the assigned room. “Coming.”

 

* * *

 

It didn’t take the three teammates long before they reached Neji’s room. What caught Naruto’s attention though, was the fact that the door was wide open.

“They must have finished when we left,” Sasuke concluded, stopping next to Naruto, who was staring wordlessly at the open door.

“Tenten-”

“Must be inside,” Naruto softly finished. He couldn’t see much besides an open widow through the door. It was more then unsettling to know that Neji, the man that died for him, was sitting in that room. He wondered how Tenten was taking it.

With a deep breath, Naruto moved to walk into the door, hearing Sasuke and Sakura doing the same behind him, but when he poked his head inside was more than discomforting.

Tenten was kneeling in front of the side of the bed, her face scrunched up with worry. Almost fearfully, Naruto slowly trailed his eyes up over her, towards.. “Neji?”

The name left his lips the moment he saw the Hyuga man. He felt his skin pale at the sight of the painfully familiar friend he’d lost years ago. His whisper seemed to startle the two out of whatever conversation they were having and both turned to look at the blonde man.

What made the blonde wake up was the pained, lost look that addoned the Hyuga’s features. He looked tired and weak, but the expression in his eyes were nerve-wrecking.

“What’s going on?” Naruto firmly asked, his eyes darting out between the two people in front of him. “Is he okay. Tenten?”

Sakura took that moment to move passed the worried Naruto, going instantly to Neji’s side, her hands glowing with chakra. Tenten quickly made space for the medic, moving backwards, before weakly getting to her feet while she kept her eyes on Neji.

Sakura reached out to place her hands on his clothed chest, sending her chakra in to search his body. It didn’t matter that the other medic and nurses had treated him, she wanted to take a look herself.

Naruto’s eyebrows furrowed in disbelief at Neji while Sakura treated him. Neji offered no resistance when Sakura started her process, he just sat there, his head bowed slightly. Naruto didn’t like it. Neji was too prideful for it. He accidentally caught Tenten’s eyes. She looked like she’d seen a ghost. He probably didn’t look much better.

“I don’t sense any injuries,” Sakura voiced, her tone professional, the way she always was during medic work. “His chakra is very low, though,” she frowned. Why hadn’t the other medic fixed that? Applying more chakra to her hands, Sakura said, “It’ll take a minute, but I can transfer some of mine.”

“The others tried that earlier,” Tenten timidly said behind her, her eyes hesitantly moving away from her teammate to Sakura. “They said his body kept rejecting their chakra.”

Sakura’s eyes slowly moved away from Neji’s chest to look up at his face. When he didn’t return her stare, Sakura went back to her job. Like Tenten said, her chakra wouldn’t transfer. Confused, the medic retracted her hands, before backing up a bit to give him some room.

“Why won’t the transfer work?” she asked herself out load, her eyes falling to her hands.

Neji remained quiet and Naruto stepped closer to the man. “Neji,” he murmured, his hands fisting against the fabric of his pants. The Hyuga spared him no notice.

“He just needs rest,” Tenten offered, her voice shaky from earlier. Naruto caught how Neji slightly flinched at her words. What had they been talking about?

Another step forward and Naruto decided to bite the bullet. “Look,” he whispered strongly to Neji. “You’re probably tired, but I think-”

“Not now, Naruto,” Sakura glared. Whether this was Neji or not, this man was still weak and in no condition to go under interrogation. They would make sure that his room was guarded so that if he was a spy or criminal, he wouldn’t escape, but for now he needed to rest.

“I know, but-” Naruto started.

“He needs to rest,” Sakura countered.

“Wait,” Neji stopped their conversation and all heads looked at the down-turned Hyuga. Naruto watched as he raised a hand to rest against his closed eyes, his hair almost blocking his entire face. “I actually...I want to talk with Naruto.”

“Neji, maybe Sakura’s right,” Tenten whispered to him. “You’re not yourself. We can talk again tomorrow.”

“That’s okay, I won’t stay long,” Naruto pitched up. If Neji wanted to speak with him, than he would and he didn’t think he’d get any sleep tonight if he didn’t either. “It’ll be quick,” he assured, looking to both Sakura and Tenten.

Sakura hesitated, her eyebrows softening. Casting a nervous look between from Neji to Naruto.

“Let’s go,” Sasuke’s voice came for the first time. He didn’t wait for an answer, before stepping outside the room, but not before casting a look back at Naruto.

Naruto knew what that look meant. Sasuke was telling him to be smart, careful.

 

He would be.

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto was standing outside Neji's hospital room, a frown playing on his whiskered face. The hallway was empty, he hadn't even seen a nurse come by since he left the room earlier. His thoughts kept replaying what he and Neji had said to each other, about their conversation. He had expected Neji to tell him what the heck was going on, but when his friends left them alone to talk, Neji had been the one to ask.

The blond let out a tired sigh, his shoulders slumping as he leaned against the wall. Raising his head to rest against the cold wall too, Naruto slowly allowed his eyelids to slip shut. He was mentally exhausted. When the meant-to-be-missing Hyuga asked him how he ended up in hospital, the blond had been shockingly confused. At first he thought Neji was playing some sick joke on him, but before he could angrily call him out, he had remembered that Neji had never been the type for those types of jokes...or any jokes. When Naruto had told him that he had no idea, Neji looked more lost then ever.

Naruto had wanted to ask him where he had been for the past few years, but stopped himself. It was possible that Neji had amnesia and wouldn't be able to tell him and to be honest, the blond didn't think he was the right person for Neji to open up to. After what Neji had done for him on the battle field, he felt the guilt he had come to deal with, flood back to him. He didn't think he deserved to demand any answers. So in the end, he let Neji speak, let him decide how the conversation would go.

When Neji brought up the missing seal, Naruto had only then realized that it was actually gone. The blond hero had witnessed the seal disappear during Neji's 'death', so it hadn't clicked in his mind until Neji mentioned it. He didn't know much about the seal, except what Neji had told him and it didn't make sense that it was still there while the Hyuga was still breathing.

It had been at that moment when Neji confronted him on his strange behavior. He wanted to know why everyone was acting like he had survived death, why they were walking on eggshells around him.

When Naruto hesitated it only made the Hyuga more frustrated and Naruto felt for him, but...how was he supposed to tell his friend that he did actually survive death?

In the end though, Naruto had told him. He told him everything. Maybe he would hate himself for it tomorrow or the others would hate him, but Neji did deserve to know. He told him everything he knew, about the Great Shinobi War, about him sacrificing himself for him and Hinata. He skipped the part about the funeral. Neji didn't need to know about how they acted or what they did during it. The only thing he needed to know was that he had dead and had been dead – or thought to have been dead – for almost three years.

"Naruto?"

The blond's eyes opened at the sound, breaking him away from his memories and he turned his aching neck to see Sasuke walking up to him. "Hey," Naruto greeted, his voice not as chirpy as it usually was.

"You're out," the Uchiha stated, coming to stop next to the other man.

Naruto offered a tired smile at his friend, giving a short nod. "Yeah, been out for about 15 minutes now. Kakashi sensei's talking with him now."

"How'd he hear about this?"

The blonde shrugged. "I didn't ask. My guess is either the nurses or Choji. He never was very good at keeping secrets."

"It it were the Akimichi then the whole village should know by now," Sasuke voiced.

"Heh..." Naruto breathed. "Where's the girls?"

"Bathroom, Sakura dragged Tenten away to get cleaned up."

"Ah. Where'd you go off to?" Naruto blinked.

"Needed some fresh air."

Naruto smiled in understanding. He knew the Uchiha had something against hospitals, ironic considering how his fiance was a professional medic.

"How'd it go?" Sasuke asked after a moment of silence and Naruto had to take an extra moment to answer.

"He didn't know anything," Naruto breathed out, his hand moving to run through his short hair. "Sasuke, he didn't even know he had been dead."

"What did he say?" the raven asked, his eyes watching the blond as his hand lowered to his forehead.

"Not much, he mainly asked me questions.." Naruto's eyes moved back to look at the closed door.

"Sounds conveinent."

"Sasuke," Naruto's voice lowered in warning. It might not scare the man, but he hoped it would make him keep his thoughts to himself. He understood that it was too soon to tell if the man was really Neji Hyuga, but he still believed it, wanted to believe it. "Anyway, he started to remember some stuff after I explained everything."

"Like?"

"Mainly stuff that happened during the war...he still doesn't know how he ended up here or what's he's been doing for the past few years."

"Hn."

Sighing, Naruto looked at his teammate, his eyes narrowed. "Look, I know this sounds fishy, but-"

"I know dobe," Sasuke interrupted, his own eyes moving to stare at the door. "I just don't think we should trust him so easily."

"Rich, coming from you," Naruto half-heartedly joked, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep. Sasuke only shot him an unimpressed look before going back to looking at the door.

Despite all the signs, Naruto wasn't worried about Neji possibly being an impostor. It could just be the hope or shock, but he didn't want to go into that right now. Neji had been as much of a wreck as he could be, considering how high and proper the man could be. Naruto had never seen him so lost. He had wished he could tell the other ninja more, but he had carried on with life, believing his friend was dead, but he would find out what happened to him. He had promised Neji in that room earlier that he would do whatever he could to figure out what had happened to him and he never broke his promises.

Both men straightened up when the door suddenly opened, revealing a wide-eyed Kakashi. The current Hokage blinked at his two former students, regaining some of his composure and closing the door quietly behind him. Naruto frowned at the action. He half wanted to go in there and see how Neji was doing.

"Sasuke, you're here too?" Kakashi cleared his throat before asking.

The Uchiha nodded confirmation.

"Sensei," Naruto started, stepping up closer to the older man. "What did Neji say? Did he remember anything else?"

The Hokage sighed at the question. He had been about to go home when he was told to go straight to the hospital. He had been confused, but obeyed anyway. It was only when he entered the allocated hospital room and saw Naruto talking to Neji. Figures the blond would know about it before the Hoke did.

"From what I can tell, he only remembers everything up until his...um," he hesitated, but cleared his throat again instead. "Anyway, I explained our situation, he seems to be taking it okay, just overwhelmed – not that I can blame him. He said that you already filled him up on a few things," he continued, looking at Naruto who tensed slightly.

"Do you really think this guy is the Hyuga?" Sasuke asked, pulling Kakashi's eyes away from the blond.

Kakashi's hand rubbed at his chin in thought, his eyes looking back at the door for a second before going back to the two men. "It's too soon to tell, but just in case, he'll be staying here over night. I'll assign extra security to keep an eye on him."

"What about tomorrow?" Naruto frowned. They couldn't keep Neji here forever.

"I've asked for blood tests to be done. We'll know for sure in the morning and we'll take it from there,"

"What about his grave?" Sasuke pointed out and Naruto couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it first.

"We'll be...digging it up after the DNA test," Kakashi said, his voice strained. "We don't want to disturb the grave until we have some more proof this actually is Neji Hyuga."

"I want to come too," Naruto requested, with no actual plea. He didn't need evidence that the man sitting in that room wasn't the real thing, but maybe he could find something that could explain where the Hyuga had been missing for so long.

"If I were to say no, would you still show up anyway?" The Hokage sighed, his eyes closing in exhaustion. He didn't really need an answer.

"Yep."

"Thought so.." Kakashi sagged, but he wouldn't fight it. He'd probably do the same thing if he was in the younger man's shoes. Familiar footsteps sound and the grey-haired man looked over Naruto's shoulder. "Oh, Sakura, Tenten. I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see the two of you here too."

Naruto and Sasuke turned to see the two mentioned women walking back up the hallway towards them. Tenten's eyes were still red-rimmed and swollen, but Naruto was relieved to see some color back in her cheeks. Sakura was walking ahead of her, her eyes focused on the Hokage.

"Kakashi-sensei? When did you get here?" Sakura's tired voice asked, stopping in front of the man. Tenten came to stand next to her in front of them, but she didn't seem to be really listening to them.

"A few minutes ago," Kakashi answered. "It's not everyday one of our own comes back from the dead. The medics thought it was Hokage-worthy."

Sakura smiled small at her former teacher. "Did you get to speak with him?" Tenten's eyes caught Kakashi's at the question.

"I did, but I think he needs some rest before any further questions. He doesn't seem to remember much."

"You guys should know that I told him about..you know, the War." Naruto confessed, looking at the two girls. Tenten seemed to freeze at the statement. Naruto guessed that Neji must have tried to get her to tell him the truth too. Either she hadn't wanted to or had been interrupted when the three of them showed up earlier.

"Naruto.." Sakura looked between angry and resigned.

"It's for the best, if Naruto hadn't done it, he would have gotten it straight from me anyway," Kakashi voiced.

"He asked me, I couldn't say no.." Naruto frowned, before hesitantly looking back at the door. "I..I should probably get Hinata." But before he could take a step to leave, Kakashi stopped him.

"Don't bother, I've already sent for Hiashi. No doubt he'll bring his daughters as well."

"I don't think now is such a good-" Sakura started.

"No, he's right," Tenten tried to disguise her hoarse voice, but failed. "Neji wanted to see her earlier. Probably more now.."

Sakura frowned at the implication. If she had been the doctor in charge, she would have made sure he got more rest and was more sane before seeing anybody. She didn't voice this though, looking at the expression her female friend wore.

"Kakashi-sensei, is it okay if I talk with Neji again?" Tenten asked, her eyes moving back to the older ninja. He seemed to tense at her question, but hid it almost completely.

"Actually I think it would be best if the three of you went home. Hiashi will be here any minute and I don't think he'll want any intrusions," he answered as gently as he could.

Tenten looked she was about to argue, but her eye was caught by the pleading look the pink-head was giving her. Biting her lip, Tenten nodded her head, looking away from the Hokage. She knew she was being selfish, Neji didn't need to be crowed by her right now, plus she had already seen him, but the thought of going home and leaving him here was painful and honestly a little scary.

"What time will the test results be done tomorrow?" Naruto asked softly. He didn't want to leave either, but he also didn't want to intrude on the family reunion. It wasn't his place.

"Early," Kakashi answered. "I'll send for you." The blond nodded with a trace of a thankful smile.

"Good night, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura bidded and the older ninja nodded in return, before watching the three friends hesitantly walk back down the hallway.

* * *

Naruto's pace was slow as he walked outside the hospital's entrance. He felt drained, still shocked, but better than when he first heard the news. He was sure that tomorrow the feeling would be way worse, that is, if this wasn't all just some messed up dream.

Glancing to his side, Naruto watched how the girl next to him was handling everything. Tenten didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave the building either and he didn't have to guess why. The brunette's head was tilted down slightly, her eyes voidly focused on her footsteps instead of in front of her. No doubt she was also replaying the last few hours in her head. Funny, you always wish for your dead loved ones to come back some how, but when they do, you don't think about the emotional punch it could put you through. He didn't like seeing his friends in pain.

"What test results were you talking about?"

The female voice broke Naruto away from his thoughts and he trailed his eyes up to meet Sakura's. They, Sasuke and Tenten had all walked out together, but the short walk had been quiet.

"Just...a blood test..." Naruto answered softly. He couldn't help but peek at the quiet Tenten walking beside him.

"It's procedure," Tenten voiced when she caught his eye and she offered a half-formed smile to reassure the blonde hero. "I'm surprised they aren't doing right now to be honest." Her lips tightened at the unsure look she got in return from not only Naruto, but Sakura in return. Sakura suddenly stopped walking, her body moving to stand in front of the weaponist, causing the others to stop too.

"Tenten-" Sakura started, her voice reaching.

"Look, guys," Tenten interrupted, her voice more harsh than she intended. "I appreciate the concern and all, but I'm not the one in the hospital bed, okay?" She hated the fact that her friends were more focused on her petty problems, when her supposed-to-be-dead teammate was the one that really needed the sympathy-not that Neji would even really accept it.

"We know that Tenten, but considering what you've been through and with this happening so suddenly-" The medic tried to explain, her eyes pleading and Tenten felt guilt flow over her. Of cause she was worried. Tenten would act the same way towards Sakura if it had been Naruto or Sasuke who died, but the thing was that she wasn't one of the other girls. She didn't want to sympathy or emotional help. She didn't need it.

There was no point in making her friends worry. Not about her.

"I'm fine, Sakura." Tenten breathed, her eyes closing briefly. She needed to relax, something a bit harder then usual to do after spending most of the night crying. "I was just taken by surprise, that's all." she continued, looking back at the other girl. "I'll be okay. Right now..I just want to help..him."

"..That makes two of us," Naruto said and Tenten broke her gaze from Sakura to look at Naruto, who smiled brightly back at her.

"Naruto, Tenten..I" Sakura frowned, her eyebrows knitted together.

"We should head home."

All eyes turned to look at the Uchiha, whose own eyes were set on his fiance. Sakura seemed to want to complain, but when Sasuke's frown seemed to deepen, the pink-haired women faltered, before nodding in defeat. It was probably the first time Tenten felt grateful for the Uchiha man, even if she figured he was just ending the conversation because he was tired and not for her benefit. At least one person in the village didn't try to tiptoe around her feelings.

When Sakura looked back over at Tenten, the brunet couldn't help the sigh that left her lips. There was no point in being upset with the medic. Opening up her arms slightly, Tenten smiled when Sakura took the small invitation and moved to pull her into a tight hug.

"I know you're strong," she heard Sakura whisper and the guilt doubled over. "It doesn't mean that I don't worry." And with that, Sakura slowly let go of the other girl, giving one last careful smile, before retreating back to her fiance.

Tenten watched as the couple walked away, her heart swelling. She wished she was as tough as she claimed to be. She didn't notice the blue eyes glued to her.

"Don't worry about Sakura," Naruto whispered next to her and Tenten forced her body to relax. If Naruto could sense her inner turmoil then she had a problem. "She just has a habit of fussing over people she cares about. She means well though, you know."

Tenten half grinned at the blonde. "I guess you would know, huh?"

"Hey, at least she hasn't 'lovingly' hit you yet," Naruto chuckled at Tenten smiled. "I can't blame her though," the Uzumaki shrugged afterward. "With teammates like me and Sasuke...she's bound to worry."

"Yeah, I guess I got it easy."

"I bet Rock Lee worries the same about you too."

"I think it should be the other way around," Tenten huffs with a smile.

"Shouldn't you call him?" Naruto's voice sounded more serious now and Tenten understood why.

Both Lee and Gai-sensei should be informed that Neji was back.

"Lee's on a mission in Suna," Tenten answered, her voice soft. "He and Gai-sensei won't be back for another week or more. I'll send a message to them later."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Naruto frowned. He hadn't known that her teammates weren't here. It might be a bad idea to tell them such crazy news when they were on a mission. "Maybe it would be better to wait for them to come back?"

"I'd want them to tell me if I were away," Tenten said and she saw the blonde nod in understanding. She would send a letter when she got home.

Letting out a small puff of breath, Naruto leaned closer to the weaponist, nudging her shoulder with his own. The motion made the girl jolt, her large, brown eyes now looking up at him in confusion. The blond offered a sheepish grin, hoping to put her at some small amount of ease.

Tenten blinked at the grin, before going back to his eyes. It was obvious what question he was asking in his head. "I'm really okay, Naruto."

"I know," Naruto shrugged. "That was for me," he lied badly, but Tenten found that she didn't mind so much right now.

"Then you'll be fine, you're tough," Tenten said, going along with his act.

"I'd better be," the blond breathed through a reassuring smile. "Neji's gonna need me to be, you know?"

The weaponist flinched at the name. It still had an affect on her, even though she had seen him alive just a few hours ago.

"Tenten?" Naruto's worried voice said.

"I'm okay," she repeated, this time forming a bigger smile on her face, hoping Naruto couldn't see how tense it was. "I just need some sleep. All this had kinda been a lot to take in."

The blond hero eyes stayed on her, a look of sadness in them and Tenten clenched her teeth. This wasn't meant to be about her. She didn't need them to be worried about her, it was Neji that deserved – needed the support.

"..You gonna head home too?" Tenten asked when Naruto didn't make a move to leave. Neither of them were going to be able to see the Hyuga again until tomorrow and she knew how tired Naruto was, if the bags under his eyes said anything. She knew how hard he was training lately, Sakura had been complaining for months. Apparently Sasuke and him had been training together frequently. His dream of becoming Hokage was still going strong and now that everything was at peace, Naruto had decided to concentrate on that dream.

"I'm gonna hang back for a while," Naruto's hands moved to rest inside his pant's pockets. "It's a nice night, you know?"

Tenten couldn't help the small smile. "Hinata?"

The male stiffened for a second, before relaxing again, his eyes moving to the ground. "I know I shouldn't, but-I..I just want make sure she's okay...you know..after she sees him..."

Tenten patted the blond on the shoulder, her head giving a nod. A sting of jealously ran through her, but she pushed it down as soon as it came. Hinata was lucky to have someone care so much about her, someone that wanted to be there for her. Even if that someone could be a bit air-headed as the lovable blond.

"Let her know I'm thinking about her," Tenten asked and she smiled when Naruto send his own one her way.

"You got it."

Another nod and Tenten took another look back at the hospital, her mind screaming at her to stay and wait for Neji, but she knew it was unfair. Neji had a family who had suffered from his death too. She was his family too, but not in the same way. Not by blood and she couldn't put herself in front of those that were. Biting her lips, Tenten hesitantly turned back to start her way back home.

"He's lucky to have you, you know?" Naruto's words surprised the girl, her body jerking to a sudden stop. She didn't turn around though. "..I'm gonna find out what happened to Neji."

Tenten's eyes widened at the promise, her mouth opening to respond, but no words came out.

"I'll figure it out..but I need you to look out for him. He needs somebody right now. Someone he can count on," the blond's voice was abnormally serious, she could feel his eyes on her back. "Can I count on you to do that?"

'Of cause,' was the thought that ran through her brain. She would have done that anyway, there was no way she would let her teammate go through this alone. Swallowing, Tenten replied, "You got it." The reply was quiet, hoarse, but strong.

"Good," he replied. "Night, Tenten."

"Night," Tenten responded, before forcing her legs to move again she watched him leave. Her lips tightened, but she made sure to keep her movements normal. Naruto didn't need to ask her. She would be there for him. Neji could count on her.

* * *

Naruto yawned as he sat against the hospital's outer walls, his bandaged hand moving to rub against his cheeks and closed eyes. When he opened them again, he looked up at the sky. It was still so dark. He had been sitting there for the passed twenty minutes, watching for any signs of his girlfriend. He hadn't seen one person yet, besides a couple nurses leaving to go home. They had been ecstatic to see him, but all he could offer was a tired smile and wave. He was in no state of mind or mood to have a conversation right now, but he wouldn't be rude to them.

They didn't even know what was really going on right now.

A minute passed and Naruto's eyes widened at the soft, familiar chakra. He lowered his head to look in front of him.

"Naruto!"

The voice had the blond scanning the dark area, before he was able to spot the Hyuga heiress now running towards him and the he didn't waste another second. Naruto found himself instantly jumping to his feet, ignoring the resisting ache his body made. As soon as he was up, Naruto rushed over to his running girlfriend and before too long, he caught the trembling girl in a protective embrace.

"Naruto," He heard her breath out, her voice uncertain and laced with worry. By the way she was shaking in his arms, he knew she was crying and Naruto tightened his arms around her, resting his chin on her dark blue head.

"Are you okay?" Naruto whispered, his eyes softening when he felt her hands clench onto his shirt. Her head moved slightly in a small nod, despite her trembling shoulders.

It was then that his eyes caught sight of the two other Hyugas not too far away. Hiashi and Hanabi were rushing over as well and Naruto would have thought more about how he had never seen Hiashi look so rattled before, but for now his focus kept going back to the crying girl in his arms.

The Hyuga head slowed for a second at seeing the Uzumaki, but it was only for a moment, before he continued to rush into the building, trusting him to look after his older daughter. Hanabi however, did falter and looked worriedly at her sister, before meeting the blond's eyes. Naruto offered a small smile her way and the younger Hyuga seemed to relax, but not entirely. A quick nod of acknowledgment and the younger heiress hurried to join her father.

A small sob sounded and Naruto's heart squeezed in his chest. She didn't deserve to feel this kind of shock or to relive the pain all those years ago. Slowly, Naruto's hands moved to gently grasp her shaking shoulders, pulling her away slightly so he could see her face. Hinata allowed herself to be pulled away, but her hands still held onto him, keeping their bodies close. Naruto was more than okay with that and when he saw her tear-stained face, it took everything he had left to keep himself from crushing her back into another hug.

A hesitant, bandaged hand moved on it's own to wipe away a fresh tear and suddenly blurry, lavender eyes were staring back up at him. His grip on her shoulder tightened.

"N-Naruto.." the Hyuga hiccuped, more tears escaping.

"Shh, it's okay," Naruto whispered back, his hand resting on her cheek as he continued to wipe at the tears.

"Is he..it is really-" and Naruto didn't need to guess what she was trying to say.

"Yeah," the blond breathed, his eyes soft as he looked down at the small girl. "I spoke with him earlier," he continued softly. "Hinata..I think it's really him."

Hinata's eyes widened at the words. "B-but how..how is it even possible?"

"I don't know," Naruto answered, wishing he had more to tell her. He took in her features, how her hair was a mess, probably because she been sleeping until a while ago. He frowned at how pale she was, more so then usual and her puffy eyes were in a very similar state to how Tenten's had been earlier, only Hinata allowed the tears to fall and he was happy about that. He hated to see her cry, but knew she needed to. If it would help her, he would gladly hold her.

"..You should go see him. I bet he can't wait to see you," Naruto voiced, despite his tightened grip on her shoulder.

Hinata hesitantly turned to look at the hospital's entrance, her eyes still wide as she tried to calm her breathing. Naruto watched as she bit into her bottom lip nervously, how her body stiffened in his hold and he knew what was stopping her from following her father and sister. She was afraid. He had felt the same way when he had gone to see Neji. There was no telling how Hinata felt.

"Hey," Naruto whispered, his hand moving from her cheek to comfortingly run through her hair and he smiled when her eyes returned to him. "Don't think okay? It's okay."

The Hyuga's eyes closed for a brief moment, a shaky breath making her chest lift. A small sniff and Hinata opened her eyes, still blurred with tears, searching Naruto's blue one. "A-are you..?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Naruto reassured, his smile softening at the half question. He hadn't planned on leaving until he knew she was okay and was more then willing to wait for her afterwards too. He may not be the number one boyfriend in Konoha, but he knew she needed him right now. And he didn't want to let her down. "I'll be right here when you're done, yeah?"

Hinata pinched her lips together in hesitation, her eyes leaving Naruto's for only a second to look back at the entrance. Only when she turned to look back at him did she unwillingly loosen her vice grip on his clothing and Naruto willed his hands to release her.

Neji was waiting for her.

* * *

**Hi everyone, so sorry about the late update.**

**I was all ready to update weeks ago, but due to my own stupidity, the real chapter 4 got deleted from my computer. When it happened I kind of lost motivation, because I really didn't feel like retyping out the whole chapter.**

**The original chapter had Naruto and Neji talking and it was really long. I was so upset when I lost it, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it all over again. After a long time of fighting with myself over it, I decided to just skip that chapter and add a small summary to the beginning of this chapter. Really sorry if it makes this chapter seem too fast or weird. If you guys want, I can still redo the actual chapter and add it in later (much later).**

**Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, I still have some problems with it, but yeah..whatever.**

**Please let me know what you guys think and THANK YOU so much for all the awesome reviews!**

**If you have any questions or problems with the story so far, don't hesitate to PM me.**

**Thanks for reading ~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neji is released from the hospital.

" _Where am I?" Tenten asked out loud, her wide, brown eyes scanning the area around her. It was hard to see, everything was blurry and white._

_The kunoichi wiped at her eyes in an attempt to clear out her vision. It didn't work. Her surroundings were still so hazy. Had she been drugged?_

" _Lee?" she called out, her eyes squinting as she turned her head in multiple directions. Where was everyone? "Lee? Sensei?" she tried again and started to walk forward. At this point, Tenten felt her heartbeat quicken in fear. Where was she? Why couldn't she see anybody else? Her legs kept moving, a bit shakier than normal, but she still pressed on. She didn't feel in pain, she knew she had no injuries. As she continued to call out for her missing teammates, Tenten tried to remember what she had been doing earlier, but her mind – like this place – only came up blank._

_Had she been on a mission?_

_Panic started to rise in her chest at the thought. If that were the case, why couldn't she remember it? She very well could've been drugged. The brunet's legs started to move faster as she tried to find her team. What if they were hurt? No, Lee could handle himself. Despite the thought, Tenten didn't stop calling out for her friend._

" _Lee!?"_

_No answer. Were they in a similar state as she was? Were they even conscious? Lee would never ignore her, nor would Gai._

" _Please Lee, sensei! Answer me!"_

_Silence. She hated the sound. Tenten was now running, her blurred eyes coping out the white area as she screamed for her team or anyone to call back. She couldn't be left alone here. Her team could never do that to her. Not them._

" _LEE!_

" _Tenten."_

_Brown-squinted eyes grew large at the sound of the smooth voice, her body almost falling to a stop. Her head shot to the right, her eyes searching for the source of the voice. She recognized it. She would always be able to recognize it, no matter how many years passed without hearing it._

_She still didn't see anything._

" _N-Neji?" her soft voice shocked her. She sounded wrecked, dis-functional._

" _It's alright, Tenten."_

_The girl couldn't stop the gasp at the voice. It sounded just like him, just like how she remembered it – but he was dead. This had to be some sort of hallucination, caused by whatever drugs she was put on. She couldn't dwell on this, she had to find her team._

" _Tenten?"_

_Tenten shook her head, her eyes shutting closed tightly. 'Go away,' she begged in her mind. You're not real. This isn't real! She didn't realize that she had been speaking her thoughts._

" _I'm here."_

" _You're not," Tenten breathed, her eyes tightening almost painfully. This was cruel. Of all the drugged fantasies, why did it have to be-_

_A gentle hand on her cheek forced the girl to open her eyes, a sharp breath escaping her lips at the feeling. She wasn't prepared to see two lavender-tinted eyes looking softly back at her. Her vision was restored, but only focused on the young man standing before her and her breath caught at the sight._

" _Neji," she breathed, her eyes widening at the sight of him. He was still touching her cheek, lovingly. She had never felt him touch her this way before, his hands were warm. His thumb began to softly trace over her cheek and Tenten almost lost herself in the way his eyes followed the movement._

" _I'm here," he rasped and the brunet chocked on a sob. She was pathetic, crying in front of a figment of her imagination, but for once, she didn't care. If she was going to die from whatever drugs she had taken, at least she could be able to see him again._

" _Neji, I-"_

" _You're crying," he whispered, his other hand reaching up to wipe away a stray tear. Why was this familiar?_

" _I'm sorry," she whimpered and her eyes caught the way he frowned and she wanted to laugh. The frown was so Neji. At least her mind still remembered how he acted. Since this wasn't real, Tenten allowed one of her hands to reach out to the Hyuga, gently placing it over his chest. She suddenly froze._

_No heartbeat._

_Why wasn't there a heartbeat? This was her hallucination, he was meant to have a heartbeat. A shuddered gasp escaped her when his own hand covered her shaking one on his chest. It wasn't warm anymore. It felt like ice._

" _Tenten."_

_The brunet felt her body pale, her breathing growing faster at the tone of his voice. The attmosphere around them was suddenly different – cold._

" _Look at me," he demanded, his voice still smooth, but there was something else that lingured there. She didn't want to understand what it was. Tenten shook her head rapidly as she tried to pull her hand back, but his own kept her in place. "Tenten, look at me!"_

" _N-no!" she screamed, her body shaking, aching to get away. This wasn't her Neji. She had to get away._

_The cold hand that had been holding her cheek suddenly gripped her chin, jerking her to look up at him and Tenten forgot to close her eyes in pure shock. The man looking down at her was now different. Still Neji, but his skin was far too pale, his eyes burning into her own with what looked to be panic or urgency. A haunting gasp left Tenten's lips at the sight of blood starting to seep out of his parted lips._

_Not again._

_Not again!_

_Another urgent tug and the fake Neji released her hand and it flew to Tenten's own rapidly lifting chest. But when her eyes lowered to his chest, a whimpered cry sounded. Neji's entire white shirt was drenched in blood, the fabric only darkening more after each passing second. The hand she kept to her chest flew to Tenten's mouth to muffle another cry, but her eyes caught the red liquid covering it too. Her mouth was now wet. Slowly, the weaponist shakily lifted her hand away from her mouth, and screamed once more at the sight of her teammate's blood soaking it. She could taste it._

" _Tenten.."_

_Tenten's eyes shot back to the man and found him smiling back at her, but it wasn't a smile she had ever seen before. It was...daunting. The life in his eyes was draining and the girl forgot how to breath. One hesitant foot stepped forward and then Tenten attempted to leap at her friend, but he was somehow much further away._

" _Neji!" she cried, her voice panicked as she ran towards his fading body. He was going to leave her._

_Not again. Not again!_

" _Tenten."_

" _NO! PLEASE!" her legs running faster._

" _Save me."_

" _NEJI!"_

Tenten shot up, her body now in a sitting position. The girl's eyes were wide, her breathing much faster then what was considered healthy. Brown eyes darted around the familiar room, still searching for the Hyuga. She could see properly again, no more white. No Neji.

A dream.

'It was just a dream,' Tenten repeated in her mind, willing her breathing to go back to normal, a task hard to do. Of cause it was a dream. Exhausted, the brunet dropped back down on the bed, her scruffy head of hair hitting the pillow hard and she brought her arms up to rest over her eyes.

She wasn't surprised. The nightmares were a normal part of her life now, ever since… Tenten groaned at her thoughts. She didn't want to go there. Not now, not when it was still so early. Another groan and Tenten slowly lowered her arms, shifting her weight to turn over onto her sight, sighing when she got more comfortable. She could afford to sleep in a bit longer, it wasn't as if anyone was waiting in line to get into her weapon's shop. Letting out a small huff at her poor shop's expense, Tenten allowed her eyelids to slip shut, wanting nothing more than to let slumber take over her.

.

.

.

Brown eyes suddenly flew open and Tenten forced herself to sit up.

'Neji.'

She remembered now. Neji. She had found him – alive! Her memory flashed with images of her dragging Neji to the hospital. He had been awake. He had talked to her! Without another thought, Tenten pushed herself off the bed, fighting with the clinging blankets and hurried to get herself dressed. She ignores the very thought of a shower. It would take too long and she was already walking through the hospital's entrance in her jumbled mind.

It was probably the fastest she had ever gotten dressed. By the time she was running out of her house, Tenten had somehow managed to tie up her hair into her signiture buns – although a messier version. She was already a few meters down the street when she turned sharply back to lock her door. When she was sure no one would be able to break in, the weaponist was off again, practically running through town to get to the hospital.

Town was busier than usual, but Tenten didn't stop to greet people, only going slightly slower to turn and opologize when she had accidentally knocked into someone. However, she only shouted the apology over her shoulder, before continuing her fast pace. She was sure that if they knew the situation, they would understand.

And if they didn't, she just couldn't find it in herself to care. Neji was somehow,  _somehow_ back and she would be damned if she wasn't there to see her old teammate get released from the hospital.

Excitement flooded the girl's senses as she caught sight of the old building. There was some fear mixed with nervousness too, but she pushed it down. She had promised that she would be there for him and she wasn't about to break it.

It was a bit harder to actually get inside the building though. When Tenten was close enough, she was greeted with the sight of a crowd of people. She would have found it stranger, but her mind was set on one thing. As carefully and as pateintly as she could, Tenten pushed and wiggled her way through the crowd of villagers. Her temper started to flare up at one point, but she was pretty good at shoving it down – that didn't stop her from elbowing some  _jerk_  who had almost shoved her onto the ground. She almost stuck out her tongue at him when she got passed him, but reminded herself that he wasn't worth it right now.

Finally reaching the closed doors, Tenten was able to grab the handle, shrieking in shock when it suddenly flew open for just enough time for the weaponist to fall through it and crash onto the hospital floor. A loud  _ **clang**_ was heard and Tenten looked behind her to see that the doors were once again closed, she grimaced at the sight of the crowd outside trying to shove their way inside. What in the world?

"Oi, you okay?"

Wide, brown eyes left the doors to look up at none other than the lazy-genius himself. "Shikamaru?" Tenten said, her eyebrows furrowing at the man. "What are you doing here?"

"Work," he sighed out as he offered a hand to the sitting girl. Tenten blinked at the offering, before accepting. The Nara man helped pull her to her feet before retracting his hand and placing it back in his pocket, mirroring the other one. "I was just about done, actually. Unfortunately, I can't leave until this crowd disappears."

"What kind of work would you be doing in a hospital?" Tenten asked, her hands working on fixing her embarrasingly dihevealed clothing, as Shikamaru almost pouted at the closed doors.

"The Hokage sent me to handle some paperwork to do with.."

"Neji," Tenten voiced, her head nodding in understanding. Shikamaru had started to work under Shizune a year ago. It had been a surprise to her when she heard the lazy ninja wanted to take on such a busy job. Apparently he wanted to take over her position in the future, something she suspected had to do with Naruto. The Nara had said that he wanted to be the blond's adviser. It seemed that he was taking his words seriously.

"Yeah," Shikamaru confirmed as he sighed again, before looking back at her. "You came to see him?"

"Is that surprising?"

"Guess not."

She watched as the man formed a small, amused smile and Tenten was about to ask what it was about, when he turned away from her again.

"I saw him earlier," he said and Tenten froze. "When they told me who was in that room, I didn't believe it..but it's not the first time I've been proven wrong.."

"So...you believe it's really him?" Tenten watched him. She hadn't expected Shikamaru of all people to accept the sudden return.

The Nara shrugged, his shoulders slumping in the end and Tenten stared as he cracked his neck tiredly. "I don't know what to believe, but I do know that our village doesn't exactly thrive in anything relatively normal."

"I don't understand," Tenten frowned slightly.

"Basically if it  _is_ Neji, I'll do what I can, but we should keep an eye on him too.." he trailed off and peeked over at the girl. "Uh..have you..?"

"I'm the one that brought him in last night," Tenten said and Shikamaru nodded.

"Where did you find him?"

"The graveyard-" Tenten winced at the confession. A hand went to rub at behind her neck, directing her eyes at anyway besides the man. " _Anyway_ , I think I'm just gonna see how he's doing. It was-um- good seeing you."

Shikamaru only raised an eyebrow at her, before Tenten started to walk away. 'Smooth Tenten, smooth,'she thought. That conversation would probably come back to bite her later. Now that she walked towards the hallway, Tenten realized that the waiting area was full of people too. She was shocked that she hadn't noticed earlier.

Luckily, the crazy atmosphere allowed Tenten to sneak passed the other nurses and down the hallway, towards the familiar door she knew her teammate was staying in. Would Hinata and the rest of his family be there too? It was a likely possibility. She quickly decided that if that were the case, she wouldn't invade too much of there time. Whether she liked it or not, it wasn't her place.

Getting closer to his door, Tenten saw Sakura come out of it, closing the door behind her. "Sakura!" Tenten called, jogging a bit to reach her faster.

The pinkette seemed startled at the call, but when her eyes landed on her friend, Sakura smiled, giving a small wave.

"Tenten, I should have known you'd be here early," Sakura greeted when the brunet stopped in front of her. Her eyes were still a bit darkly-framed and Tenten knew she didn't look much better – possibly worse, but neither girl brought it up.

"How's Neji?" Tenten asked softly, her hands twitching to reach for the door handle. She had to relax, she'd see him in a minute.

"Oh," Sakura blinked, her hand quickly moved some hair behind her ear. "Um, he's doing much better with his chakra levels..not that I've checked myself. He still isn't my patient so I can't...um." Tenten frowned at the lapse of eye contact. "..I was actually just seeing how he was doing, as a friend….he seems to be handling all of this pretty well."

Of cause he was, this was Neji they were talking about. If anyone was good at staying calm during a moment of crisis, it was him. A trait Tenten had always envied, but now wished he'd drop.

It wasn't good for him to keep everything bottled up. Not that she could say much about herself either though.

"...Are you alright?" Sakura asked after a minute of silence. "How are you feeling?"

Tenten resisted the urge to sigh out her annoyance. Not again. "I'm not sick, Sakura," her voice held a warning. The medic seemed to have picked that up, because she decided to drop that topic, but not until after she gave a meaningful look to the other girl.

"I guess you'll want to see him too, huh?" Sakura said, after clearing her throat. "His papers have already been dealt with, so he's about ready to go."

Tenten nodded at the statement, turning her head to look at the closed door. "Cool, thanks."

"Let me know if you need me," Sakura said and Tenten could tell by the tone that the medic wasn't just referring to Neji.

"Yeah," Tenten sighed, but gave a small smile anyway, happy despite herself when Sakura smiled back, before walking down the hallway. The brunet waited until she couldn't see the other girl anymore, before she took in a deep breath and wiggling her fingers.

The weaponist turned to fully face the door and reached for the handle, freezing when she touched it. She felt nervous again, she shouldn't, but she was. Another deep breath and Tenten forced her muscles to relax. She say him yesterday, she could do this.

Tenten turned the handle and pushed the door open slowly. The first thing she saw was the very man himself. Neji Hyuga was sitting on the side of the bed, his back turned turned to her. He was looking out of the window. Tenten didn't say anything to announce her presence. She was sure that he knew she was there a while ago, instead she took him in – or at least what she could see of him. His hair was still out and a bit greasy, but unlike yesterday, it had been brushed out, the long brown strands covering the whole of his back and resting on the bed. Like always, his posture was good, sharp and poised. She didn't understand how he could keep himself so straight. A habit, she guessed.

Tenten stiffened slightly when the man in front of her suddenly turned his head to the side, his eyes glancing at her. "Tenten."

The greeting was short, but it did things to the girl, some of which frightened her. Memories of her dream this morning came back to her and she almost whimpered, but bit her lip. This wasn't a dream, Neji really was here right now. He wasn't going to disappear.

"Neji," she hoped her voice sounded cheerful. "How are you feeling?" Damn, she sounded so stiff.

Neji didn't answer, but he did start to pull himself off the bed and Tenten was quick to complain.

"W-wait Neji, don't-" she started, already walking over to him, her hands reaching out to keep him seated.

"I'm not crippled, Tenten." The words stopped the girl in her tracks, her arms dropping to her sides, when her eyes properly met the Hyuga's lavender ones.

"I-I didn't mean.." she stuttered and wanted to kick herself as soon as it happened. Since when did she stutter?

"I understand completely," his smooth voice said and Tenten was shocked to see the small, almost invisible smile tugging at his lips. "I'm okay, Tenten. Just a bit lost. That's all."

She was lost too.

"I heard Naruto told you everything.." Tenten avoided his eyes.

"Everything he knew," she heard him say and her fists clenched.

"I should have told you..when you asked me. I should have.."

"..You think I'm angry?"

Tenten bit her lip, but moved to look back at him. To her surprise he wasn't scowling. The long-haired man only stared at her with a confused expression on his face. He was wearing that expression a lot recently.

"I'm not, you know."

"Aren't you?" Tenten breathed and there was that sympathetic smile of his again.

"No, Tenten. I'm not. Stop over thinking." Neji then turned back to look out the window and Tenten wasn't sure what to do with herself. "You're here early," he hummed.

"Uh..yes," she winced when her reply sounded more like a question. Get a grip Tenten! It's only Neji. By the way her chest swelled at the thought, Tenten realized that that was exactly why she was acting so weird. For the past few years, she had been living life like he was dead. She had even talked to his grave every night...she wasn't going to tell him that fact though.

"You really must have missed me."

Tenten had to blink a couple times to process the sentence. Neji didn't sound sad, he sounded  _amused._

"Ex-excuse me?" the weaponist asked, her cheeks flushing slightly.

The way his brown hair shifted, told Tenten that the Hyuga had just casually shrugged. Shrugged, like he hadn't been dead for years and was just having a normal conversation with friend. But wasn't that exactly what it was like to Neji? He hadn't known he was gone for so long.

"I'm touched, I suppose." Neji added and Tenten tried to keep her mouth from gaping open. A good nights sleep must have done him wonders. Last night, Neji had been a wreck, not knowing what had happened or what was going on. Yet now, everything seemed back to normal. He was acting like his usual self, throwing around those stupid, annoying,  _jerky_ remarks and – and..

Tenten wanted to laugh. So she did.

It started with a giggle, which quickly grew louder and louder and Tenten was wiping at her eyes that had started to tear up. This time however, she knew they were more from relief than anguish.

It didn't solve everything, but it felt good.

"You look better today," Neji voiced when Tenten's breathing started to calm down. Wiping her eyes again, Tenten looked back to see a real – almost full smile on his face.

"I-idiot," Tenten laughed through a hiccup and Neji's smile formed more of a smirk than a smile.

* * *

"I'm surprised Hinata or Hiashi isn't here," Tenten sighed, her eyes directed towards the open window as she sat next to her old teammate of the bed. They weren't touching, but they were sitting much closer than they usually would, but Tenten still had the urging need to be as close to the Hyuga as possible. Neji hadn't said anything against the closeness, so she didn't move away. "I expected them to escort you home."

"I told them it wasn't nessasary."

Tenten peeked over at the man next to her, a confused frown on her face. "Why'd you do that?"

"I think they need some time to process everything," he replied, eyes still glued to the window. "And I wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing my uncle fuss all over me again. It was...weird."

Tenten laughed at the word. "Weird?" she repeated. "Wow, Neji, I forgot how superior your vocabulary was." She smiled wider when Neji rolled his pupiless-eyes at her.

They sat in silence for a few moments more, Neji staring out at the blue sky. Tenten tried not to, but she constantly found herself stealing glances at the Hyuga. If he noticed – and she was sure he did – he didn't say anything.

"You're wearing clothes," Tenten suddenly voiced when her eyes caught the unfamiliar fabric.

"I see your eyesight had improved nicely – oh!"

"And I see that you've only gotten more moody in the mornings," she pouted, retracting her clenched hand, before looking back to his cloths. They were very similar to his normal outfit before the war, except this time, the robes he wore where a dark gray colour, almost blue. She blushed when she realized that more of his chest was displayed, he didn't seem to be wearing an under shirt and it allowed her to see so much more of his skin, but that was mainly due to the way he was sitting.

"Hiashi sent them after they left last night," Neji said and Tenten blinked her eyes back to focusing on the window, hoping her blush wasn't too noticeable. "These are some of his actually."

"W-why didn't he just send some of your old clothing?"

"I should hope that I might have out grown them, Tenten." And Tenten felt her face flush more. Right, of cause he would have grown. It wasn't like he had been a dead body for the past few years. "..Why? Don't you like them?"

"No-no! They look great!" Tenten answered hurriedly, her hands waving in front of her to try and clear any misunderstandings. "I just..um. I'm sorry," she breathed, lowering her gaze to fall to her lap. "It's stupid, but..I guess I'm just a bit..nervous."

"So this is what a nervous Tenten looks like," she heard him mutter and her eyes flew up to see him watching her intently. She felt her face get hotter. "I can't remember you ever being this way before."

Tenten didn't stop herself from shoving at his shoulder, enjoying the tiny smile she got out of him. "Jerk."

"I'm only stating the facts." Neji said softly, sounding slightly distracted. "I'm actually really glad to see you back to normal. You scared me last night."

'And I'm so glad to just see you,' Tenten thought, biting her tongue to keep the words from spilling. A part of her was a bit agitated about how he was worried about her, even though neither he or the village knew where he was for so long. Was it normal for someone to take their death-news so easily?

"I suspect that most of the village will have heard of my return by now," Neji changed the subject when Tenten remained quiet.

Tenten huffed amusingly at the statement. He had no idea. "I think you'll be happy to know that a rather large crowd has been stationed outside the hospital. I think it's safe to say that they are waiting for you."

She snickered at the grimace on the Hyuga's face. Neji was never the type to thrive off public exposure. He liked aknowledgement, but didn't care much for high popularity. He had always been the solemn type.

"I guess I can't blame them," Neji frowned and Tenten hummed in question. "To them I must be like a dead man walking. Their curiosity is natural."

Tenten lowered her eyes to her lap at his words. What would he say if he knew how pitifully she had hung on to his memory all those years? Would he understand and say it was natural? Would he think she was weak and pathetic? She doubted that he would have acted the same way if the roles were switched. No, not the Hyuga protigy. Neji would have been able to cope with anything, he'd always had that power.

"What are you thinking?" Neji asked, his head now turned to look at her, abandening the window again.

"Nothing...uh, so Sakura said that you've been cleared to leave. Mind if I walk you home?" Tenten quickly changed the topic, smiling innocently up at the Hyuga when he noticed the slip.

'Please stop worrying about me. It's you I'm worried about.'

"..If you insist," Neji replied after a couple seconds and it filled Tenten with relief to know he was dropping his earlier question.

Tenten lifted herself off the bed when Neji did, the weaponist forcing herself to keep from helping him up. It turned out that she didn't need to in the end anyway. As gracefully as she remembered him to be, Neji easily walked around the bed and towards the door with her following behind. She still kept a close eye on his body language though, but he seemed to be fairing much better than last night.

Neji was about to exit the room when Tenten suddenly remembered the state of the waiting room, not to mention the hospital's entrance.

"Wait Neji," Tenten instructed, not being able to stop her hand from reaching out to grasp his sleeve. "Um..do you-? You don't actually feel like going through the crowd right now, do you?"

Neji blinked at the words, probably remembering what she had said earlier, before turning to face her properly. "Obviously no."

The female teammate then grinned brightly at him, before tugging at his sleeve. "Then follow me, Hyuga-san. I'll sneak you out passed the dreaded villagers."

A dark eyebrow rose at her playful words, but the slight tug of his lips had Tenten pulling him towards the window. She might have been doing him a favor, but honestly, she didn't feel like sharing the man just yet. She was still trying to adjust to having him back. The rest of the village could wait a bit longer.

"Out the window? Really?" Neji murmured when he realized Tenten's plan, the girl already opening it up. "I'd imagine Naruto doing such antics, but not from you."

Tenten only shrugged, her one leg already outside the window frame. When she was fully outside, she turned to give the Hyuga an impatient look when he didn't move to follow her. "Hey, it's either this or confronting the crowd down stairs."

She didn't have to wait long before the man sighed his defeat and followed her outside the window, onto the slope outside. She didn't stop the happy giggle she let out at the look on his disapproving face.

Tenten led the way as they leaped from rooftop to rooftop. Looking downwards as she jumped, she could still see the large crowd trying to get into the hospital and was instantly relieved that she had convinced Neji to escape through the window. She just hoped he didn't have anymore papers to sign, but Sakura did say that he was all set to leave, right?

A glance behind her and Tenten realized that Neji had stopped following her. Stopping too, Tenten landed softly on another rooftop, and turned to see Neji a few houses away. He wasn't even facing her anymore, his body instead directed to look out at the village, but she knew he wasn't admiring the view.

The Hyuga was slightly tensed, his void eyes locked out into the distance. Looking out in the direction of where she knew had been his last memory. The location of where The Great Ninja War was at.

Neji didn't flinch when she moved to join him, landing silently behind him. Tenten desperately wanted to reach out and touch him, to offer her support, but something stopped her. Would whatever she had to say to him really make him feel better? She didn't have any answers for him, she couldn't give him back the years he'd lost.

"Neji?"

But that didn't mean that she shouldn't at least try. She wanted him to know that she was there for him.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" she whispered, her eyes glued to the back of his head, following the long, brown stands of hair as they moved with the slight wind. "Me, everyone, we're here for you."

She watched as the man's shoulders lifted and fell in a heavy breath. He didn't answer her.

"We're going to figure out what happened to you," Tenten vowed, taking a step closer to him, wanting to reach out. Her hands tightened into fists when the Hyuga slowly turned around to look at her. He wasn't smiling, but his eyes held some sort of emotion she was uncertain about.

"I now, Tenten," Neji said, his eyes closing for a long second. "I want to find out too, I hate this feeling."

"You can count on me," Tenten whispered, more to herself than to him, but he smiled at her anyway. When it grew quiet again, Tenten cleared her throat, before her damn emotions could drive her to do something stupid again like hug him. That would be embarrassing, even if she could use the excuse of missing him. It wouldn't be much of an excuse though, they didn't really hug before either, so it would just be strange to him. "So, anyway..." Tenten averted her eyes away from his, her left fist tapping against her thigh to keep her busy. "We were on our way to the Hyuga compound?"

She wanted to kick herself as soon as the words left her mouth. Yes, she was getting nervous, but she didn't want to rush their time together, who knew when she'd be able to see him again. She was actually surprised that Kakashi hadn't sent someone to escort him home.

"No," Neji's reply made Tenten look back up at him in confusion. He was frowning again, his own eyes looking back out at the view ahead of them, but at least he didn't look so lost anymore. At least for now. "I still don't think I can stomach my uncle fussing over me. The people back at the compound will be just as bad as the crowd...I think I'll stay away a bit longer."

Tenten blinked at the statement, racking her brain for something to say, but finding nothing. She hadn't expected Neji to want to avoid his home, but in some way, she probably should have seen it coming.

Taking her silence the wrong way, Neji turned back to look at the still confused Tenten, stepping up to stand a few feet away from her. "Thank you for coming to see me, I won't keep you longer. I'll find something else to do," he said emotionless, but before he could turn to leave, Tenten finally snapped out of her thoughts.

"Hey," she called, a hesitant smile tugging at her lips when her old teammate looked back at her questioningly. "Since you want to blow off some time...how bout I show you my shop?"

"..You have a shop?"

* * *

Naruto watched as the piece of land that once acted as Neji Hyuga's grave site was dug up. He had been here since they started, Kakashi having kept to his word in calling the blond hero when they began. They had been here for almost two hours now, he, Kakashi and a few ANBU troops.

The digging of the grave itself had gone fairly fast, to Naruto's standards at least. He wasn't sure what to expect when the troops started to dig up the grave, the tombstone having been discarded first. There was no doubt in his mind that the man he had spoken to last night was non other than Neji, but for whatever reason, he still expected the Hyuga to be laying in the ground.

Stupid, he knows, but instinct.

"This is giving me the creeps," Kakashi sighed, coming to stand next to the blond, Naruto turning his head to greet his hokage.

"What? I'd figure you'd be used to dead people coming back?" Naruto tried to joke, but only managed to half smile at his own words.

The hokage merely rolled one eye at the attempt. "Revived dead people – I can handle, it's the digging up graves I don't like. I feel like we're  _grave robbing_." Naruto caught the way his ex-sensei's visible eye flinched when he looked out at the dug-up grave. He could understand the reaction.

"...So there really isn't any body, huh?" Naruto asked, despite having looked earlier himself when the troops dug deep enough. They had even gone a bit further to make sure, but there was still no body found. It made Naruto feel better, but more confused at the same time. He had watched Neji be buried after all.

"At least we can report this, along with the blood results back to Hiashi," Kakashi sighed. The Hyuga head had been so confused and skeptical when he was told the news, despite being in a rush to see his deceased nephew. "This might be able to give him some clarity."

However, it also left a lot of unanswered questions.

The villagers would be banging down his doors for answers, he just knew it. He didn't even want to think about what the other Kages would say when they heard of Neji's return. He'd try to keep it under raps for as long as possible.

"..By the way," Naruto started, his eyes following the movements of the quick troops. "Was it  _really_  necesarry to call in the ANBU troops to dig up a grave?" He hadn't said anything at first when he arrived, but thought it was strange. Did Kakashi expect some sort of danger when digging up the grave?

"Well...I wasn't going to dig up a dead-man's grave. That's just some bad luck," the silver-haired man hummed, his eye closing and Naruto's shoulder's slumped at the explanation. The Leave's Hokage everyone.

"Hokage-sama."

Both Naruto and Kakashi turned to see Sai walking up to them and Naruto grinned at his old teammate and close friend. Sai had been promoted to one of the ANBU's troop leaders about a year ago. Naruto had been pretty happy for his friend at the time, while the stoic man had only given his trademark smile at the announcement. The blond knew he was grateful for the position though, Sai was a pretty decent leader too. He was good at getting things done quick and he was never one to question his orders.

Naruto didn't think anyone would suit the position more, but don't get him wrong, Sai had developed into much more than just an emotionless ninja after the war. Naruto still joked that Sai still had more expressions than Sasuke, to which he'd always get scolded at for.

"Sai, thank you for your teams hard work today," Kakashi eye-smiled at the pale ANBU leader. "I couldn't have asked for a faster team."

"It's not like I could have said no," Sai replied, but his tone had no bite. Both Naruto and Kakashi had accustomed themselves to his way of speaking a long time ago.

"Heh, so did you find anything down there?" Naruto asked, his eyes going back to the grave for a quick glance and then back to the pale man.

Once they were sure that there was no body – or dried up bones/remains, Kakashi had ordered for them to search for any clues or abnormalities, just in case.

A shake of the troop-leader's head told him that they hadn't found anything after all.

"Nothing, but we'll keep looking," Sai informed and Kakashi let out another sigh.

"Great," the older man said. "Guess this really isn't going to be easy."

"Is it ever easy?" Naruto agreed, a tan hand moving to scratch at the back of his neck.

"With this village? I suppose not," Kakashi breathed, before giving one last look at the grave site. He really didn't like this. "Alright, I'm going to draw up the report and inform Haishi Hyuga. Sai, let me know if you find anything."

"Understood."

"Great," Kakashi nodded tiredly, before looking at Naruto expectantly. "If you plan on staying, try not to get in their way."

"Hey!" the blond flushed at the accusation. It wasn't like he was that troublesome kid anymore. He didn't need to be warned of his behavior!

"I mean it," Kakashi sighed one last time, before turning to leave the scene, Naruto frowning at Sai when he noticed the stupid smile he held.

Naruto pouted as he watched the Hokage stride away from them, only relaxing when he couldn't see him anymore. Going back to the mention of Hiashi, Naruto's mind went to the focus of Hinata. He wondered how she was doing today? If she had seen Neji again yet? He hadn't seen her since last night and she hadn't been in the best state when she left the hospital.

Naruto wanted to go and see her today, but wasn't sure if it was the best idea. He didn't want to intrude on her and her family's re-bonding with Neji. Still, maybe he could swing by to see how she was doing later?

"You have a scary look on your face," came Sai's voice, breaking the blond from his thoughts to glare at his supposed friend.

"Very funny," he muttered, his nose scrunching up.

"But I wasn't joking."

The words made Naruto sigh heavily. He could really go for a nap right now, but with everything that's going on, he'd probably wouldn't even be able to get to sleep.

"You look troubled," Sai stated more than asked and Naruto grinned at his friends antics. Some people changed more than others. Himself for example, he was way more mature!

"Uh, it's nothing. Just a bit tired, you know?" the blond smiled while Sai remained neutral.

"Then sleep."

"Maybe later," the blond shrugged, stretching his arms over his head. "I think I will hang around with you guys just in case you find something. Maybe later I'll go over to see if Hinata can do lunch." He really wanted to see if she was okay. At the same time, he would also check how Neji was doing.

"That's very considerate of you," Sai hummed, his attention turned to his still busy troops.

"Heh, yeah well-wait, what do you mean?" Naruto frowned in confusion.

"You having lunch with Hinata Hyuga," Sai said casually, not looking back at the blond, seemingly uninterested. "It's very kind of you considering your position."

The Uzumaki had to take a second to try and figure out the man's words. "Huh? I don't get it, isn't it natural for me to want to see how my girlfriend is doing?" He was pretty sure that's how boyfriends were supposed to be.

"...The two of you are still dating?" Sai blinked widely, glancing back innocently at the now surprised blond.

"Um..yeah," Naruto replied, before panic started to build up inside of him. "Why? Did Hinata say something to you?" Had Hinata dumped him without him even noticing? It didn't seem like something the sweet Hyuga would do, but it was possible that she had finally gotten sick of him. He hoped he was wrong.

"No..." Sai slowly replied, taking in his friend's worried expression. Seems he had been mistaken. "It's just that the two of you don't really act much like a couple, so I just presumed she dumped you."

His words stung more than Naruto cared to admit. There had to be a problem if  _Sai_  of all people thought something was wrong. The Uzumaki almost deflated at the concept, before glaring suspiciously at the other man.

"Hold up – you, of all people is critising my love life?" Naruto frowned. Sai wasn't even dating anybody – at least not that he had noticed, but to be fair, it was hard to imagine the almost-emotionless man making kissy faces with any women.

It was almost on the same weird level as seeing Sasuke with Sakura.

"Ino has been teaching me the nature of 'couples'," Sai smiled at the bewilded blond. "The information is quite helpful, but you and Hinata do not match her descriptions. So I didn't think the two of you were still together."

"Don't you think I would of told you if we broke up!?"

"I assumed you were embarrassed. I was trying to spare your feelings by not bringing it up."

"Why would I be embarrassed!?"

Sai's smile seemed to stretch uncomfortably at the question and Naruto almost didn't want to hear his answer.

"I think if one of you was going to break up with the other, I'd pick Hinata to end it."

"..."

"…?"

"..My friends suck."

* * *

**Hi everyone!**

**Hope you all enjoyed this new chapter of 'Shackled'.**

**Please let me know what you think.**

**Thanks for reading!**

 

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't see him."

"Well, maybe if you shut up and  _concentrate_  we'd find him," a quiet, female voice shot back, her pale, pupil-less eyes glaring at the crouching man next to her. "And stop whining, we haven't even been here that long."

The girl's response caused the man to sigh, an overall annoyed sound. "We've been here long enough," he whispered, almost hissed when his partner turned away from him to look down at the scene below them again. "How do we even know he's here anyway? He's probably not even in the village."

"The mistress said he'd be here, that's  _why_ ," came the equally annoyed tone. "But hey, if you wanna go back and tell her that she's wrong, be my guest." The girl looked over her shoulder to smirk knowingly at the man. She knew he would never to that.

Instead of answering, the man only frowned at her, his nose scrunching up at the very idea. "Whatever," he shrugged defeated when his partner continued to smirk back at him.

"That's what I thought," the girl snorted, her head turning back to look down below once more. This time, the man joined her.

Both ninjas were crouched on a rooftop, one that sheltered their bodies from the views of others, but gave them a perfect view from inside the specific area – the Hyuga compound to be more precise. The duo had managed to enter the compound unnoticed, a not so easy trait when many of it's inhabitants possessed the Byakugan, but it was an easy move for them. It wasn't like this was the first time they had been there, they knew where to hide.

What exactly they were looking at was the center of the compound, a couple meters away from the main entrance. They had already gone through the other side, now they were left to wait here, while their friends searched the rest of the village. Currently, they could see a few clan members busying themselves with their normal day duties. None of them seemed to notice the two strangers watching from above.

"Man, I fucking hate this place," the man murmured, more to himself then to his partner, but it didn't stop her from nodding in agreement.

"It doesn't seemed to have changed much," she replied under her breath.

"As if it would," the male grunted, his eyes glaring down at the people below. He didn't want to be here. It had been assigned to them, this place. He'd much rather be anywhere else. "Feh, come on," he urged, his mouth pouting in impatience when he still couldn't see any sign of their target. "Let's get out of here already. It's obvious he's not here."

"If you complain one more time," the girl warned him, earning a glare in return, before she focused back on the people. Her irritation at the other ninja was short-lived when a new person stepped into sight – a certain heiress they had been told about. "Takuya, look," she instructed.

"What?" the man frowned. She didn't miss the eye-roll.

"That must be Hinata Hyuga, the next heir to the clan," the girl continued, not paying his attitude any mind. She hadn't ever seen the young heiress before, but she had heard about her. Examining her more, the stranger was less than impressed with what she saw. The young Hyuga wasn't anything you'd expect to see in a future clan leader. She looked small, dainty – almost fragile. What a let down, it was kinda funny.

"Who should I be looking at?" Takuya grumbled, his pale eyes going from one Hyuga member to the next.

"Try the only person down there without a headband, genius," the girl sneered, her irritation coming back.

"..How do we know that isn't Hanabe?" he asked, his eyes taking in the pretty Hyuga below them.

"She's not the right age, it has to be Hinata," the girl said, watching as the little heiress slowly walked down the halls. She seemed to be in deep thought. It was obvious that something was bothering her by the way she held herself, but the stranger found it hard to care.

"Pretty," the stranger named Takuya hummed, but his words didn't hold any admiration, only observation.

The girl huffed at the spoken fact. All these years and the Hyuga clan's next leader was a little girl with similarities to a cream puff.

The two watched as the young heiress left their view, neither moving to follow her. She wasn't the one they were after. Nobody else of much importance came into view after that, only most of the branch members. There was no sign of Hiashi either.

Another few minutes passed, before the girl gave off another annoyed sigh and pushed herself back onto her feet, her partner raising a brow up at her.

"I guess we can go, he's not here and I'm sick of this place," she said, already turning to leave.

Takuya blinked up at her retreating figure, before snorting. "Finally." Forcing himself up too, the man gave one last glare at the scene below him before turning to follow his partner.

* * *

It was silly, but Tenten was nervous about showing Neji her shop. She shouldn't be – really, she loved her little store after all, but it didn't stop her nerves from acting up the closer the two got to the weapons store.

Maybe she was worried that he would disapprove or that he would call it 'cute' - admittedly not something the Hyuga prodigy would ever use, but somewhere along the same lines. And there was nothing wrong with a shop being 'cute' or anything, but this was a _weapons_  store, it was also her life now and she didn't want him to be disappointed in her for not furthering her ninja career.

She wanted him to be proud of her.

"So what exactly is it that you sell?" Neji asked, disrupting the silence and forcing the brunette out of her swirling thoughts.

Swallowing down her agitated nerves, Tenten tilted her head up at him as they continued to walk, a bashful smile playing on her lips. "Take a guess."

Neji raised a dark eyebrow at the shorter ninja, his coy expression almost breaking with the slight rise of his lips. "Stuffed pandas?"

The answer had the weaponist stumble to a halt, her face now holding an utterly confused expression. Neji had stopped too to smirk down at her and she realized he was toying with her.

"Seriously?" Tenten couldn't stop the smile forming on her lips. "That's your first guess?"

"I remember you having a strange fascination with them when we were younger," the Hyuga replied, his smirk widening when a bright flush of embarrassment started to appear on her face.

"You promised to never bring that up again!" Tenten accused, bringing her hands to rub at her hot cheeks. She knew how much she resembled a tomato when she blushed. As if she needed to embarrass herself more in front of him today.

Neji at least didn't laugh out loud at her, he had never been the type to do something like that so easily, but he did chuckle slightly at her and if it had been any other day – before the war – if she hadn't missed him so much, she would have stomped off.

Luckily for him, the crave of being near him, soaking in as much of him as she could while he was still there, was far greater than any embarrassment she held.

"For your information Hyuga," Tenten pouted at his chest, still trying to rub away the red form her cheeks. "I own a well-established weapons shop."

"That would have been my second guess," Neji nodded, turning his gaze away from her to ahead of them. The street wasn't busy, but it wasn't empty either. Unlike the hospital however, nobody seemed to notice or care that he was casually walking down the street, considering he had been thought to be dead. Then again, Neji hadn't exactly been very social with the villagers before the war, unless he needed to be and to to be fair they probably thought he was just another Hyuga. He was just grateful that nobody he knew was walking nearby, he couldn't take more of the shocked, suffering looks all his friends and family gave him.

"Neji? You okay?" Tenten asked, still standing next to the quiet Hyuga man. When he looked down at her again he was greeted with her worried look once again. She was giving it to him a lot today. "You spaced out," she continued slowly. "Um..if you want we can sit down or something..?"

Her offer was careful, going softer in tone at the end. She was trying not to offend him, knowing how prideful he could be and Neji knew it, but didn't need it. He honestly felt fine, just a bit frustrated with himself for not knowing where he had been for apparently the last few years.

"I'm starting to think that you don't want me to see your shop," Neji teased, attempting to change the subject. "Could it be that you actually are selling toy pandas?"

Tenten didn't immediately react to the tease, her eyes still holding that uncertainty, but in the end, she decided to play along, giving a forced smile that Neji could see right through. He didn't mention though.

"If you're sure?" she said.

"Lead the way," the Hyuga instructed and then followed the konoichi further down the street.

It was a short walk before Tenten stopped in front of a modest building. Neji caught the nervous breath she let out, before twirling around to grin back at him, her hands spread out.

"Well, this is it. Welcome to 'Tenten's Weapon Shop'! The ideal place to for-fill your ninja needs!" she declared.

Neji smiled at his old teammate, before raising his chin and letting his powerful eyes take in the full structure. It wasn't very big, maybe one and a half times bigger than what he remembered that old ramen shop Naruto used to love. From what he could tell, the structure was solid, the paint job a dark ivory colour and a ref roof top. There were signs and, through the windows were smaller weapons on display. Like all the other stores on the street, Tenten's shop was boxed in between others, but the Hyuga was proud to note that the others didn't stand out as much as his friend's. He liked it.

"Impressive," Neji simply said, his eyes going back to a stiff Tenten, but the word seemed to relax the brunette, her tepid smile widening.

"Thanks, uh-lets go inside, just let me-" she fumbled around in her pants pockets, searching for her keys. 'Where did I put those..?'

"Is it possible that you left your keys at the hospital?" Neji asked, watching the girl feel up her clothes for them. "We can always go back?"

"Don't be silly," Tenten waved him off, before looking back at her shop with furrowed eyebrows. Before Neji could offer to run back himself, Tenten bent over and emptied out a small flower pot next to the entrance. "Ah-ha! Found em!" Tenten smiled triumphantly at the keys when they fell into her waiting palm.

"...You left your keys in a flower pot?" Neji frowned. "Tenten anybody could have easily found them and broken in."

"Relax," Tenten replied, looking over her shoulder to stick out her tongue at him, before pushing herself up again. "I always put them in a different hiding spot."

Neji still frowned at the logic, but didn't say anything as Tenten unlocked the store's entrance and then opened the door. Before walking in, she shot Neji another smile, this time accompanied by a quick wink and the Hyuga rolled his eyes at her. She could be such a child sometimes.

Following her inside, Neji took in the entire room. It had a homey feel to it, rather than just being an everyday weapon's store. By the teller, Tenten had vases of her favorite flowers. He could also see picture frames of their old team photo. There were weapons decorating the walls, not overpoweringly, but actually very stylish and professional. He could just imagine Tenten running around, measuring every corner of the room – finding the perfect places to display her weapons – only to changer her mind half way and start all over.

An amused smile stretched across the Hyuga's lips at the thought. It was most likely how the preparing of the store had gone. Tenten was a perfectionist in her own right – at least with her weapons. It was something she had a knack for and so had always wanted to give it her all.

"Make yourself comfortable," Tenten said as she hung up her keys near the door, before turning to face him with a nervous grin, his eyes easily caught how her teeth sunk into her bottom lip.

Neji met her frigidity gaze with a curious one of his own. His attention on her only seemed to add to her surprising anxiety and the girl held on to one of her arms, squeezing anxiously. He didn't like it – this strange, uncomfortable atmosphere. They had never had this sort of problem in the past, even during the days of their genin years. Despite his then 'unwelcoming attitude', he had been able to tolerate his female teammate a lot easier than the other two members.

Of cause, given the circumstances, Neji could understand her behavior, but in all honesty, he'd have expected more skepticism than whatever was happening now.

He wanted this feeling to go away.

When Tenten awkwardly diverted her gaze from him, Neji had decided he'd had enough and made to approach her.

"Tenten-"

"Neji," the brunette uttered at the same time, her eyes finding his once more when she heard him say her name too.

He was closer to her again, a few inches away, but too far for her to touch him again – the way she so desperately wanted to. It was greedy and pathetic and she needed to control herself. It wasn't fair to Neji who didn't feel like he had been out of her life for so long.

Her feelings would heal once she got used to having him around again, but until then she needed to make Neji feel like nothing had changed – at least in some things.

"I'm gonna make us some tea," Tenten said with a tense smile, that last thought set in her mind. Not waiting for Neji's response, the weaponist strode off passed the front desk and through open door behind it, presumably where the tea supplies were held.

Neji watched her exit the room, a sigh leaving his lips when she was gone. Tenten was never a very good actress and her attempt of hiding her anxiousness was poor. He have to find a way to calm her damn, the Hyuga decided mentally, one hand reaching to comb through his greasy hair. The feeling made him cringe and he instantly retracted his hand.

Maybe he should ask Tenten if he could use her shower...wherever it was she lived now. Did she still live in that same apartment? He sincerely hoped not. He had made it known to her how much he had hated that sketchy place.

Neji sighed again, this time more bitterly at his lack of knowledge. For the first time since he was told the news, he wondered just how many things had changed in his absence. All he could tell so far was that Sakura now had a job at the hospital, Shikamaru was for some reason working under the Hokage – who just happened to be  _Kakashi_  and that Tenten had a weapons shop.

He was both intrigued and shocked to hear of some of those facts and now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure how he would take the rest of the news.

But, the world couldn't have changed that much in his absence...could it?

He was getting a headache and the Hyuga made to rub his temple, only for his fingers to twitch away from his forehead from the lack of material there.

Right – there was also that little mystery.

He had almost forgotten about the missing seal on his forehead. Even Hiashi had been confused and speechless to find the mark gone. Neji hadn't been in the right state of mind or body to have a proper conversation with his uncle last night, but he had managed to listen to what the doctors and Kakashi had talked about with the older Hyuga. He didn't remember much from last night, but he knew that his uncle had no answer for the missing seal.

There was only one way to get rid of it – death.

"You okay with jasmine?" Tenten called from the other room, startling the man out of his rapid thoughts. "It's all I have!"

It took a split second for Neji to register her words before replying loud enough for her to hear. "Jasmine is fine."

When it grew quiet again and the only sounds came from the kettle, Neji decided to keep himself busy, not wanting to get caught up in his head again. Instead, he took to admiring the store again, this time more closely as he walked from stand to stand.

Tenten really had made quiet the collection over the years, he was slightly surprised that she wanted to sell some of them, but he did note that some of her more unique and prized weapons were nowhere to be seen.

Eventually coming to the front desk, Neji's eyes almost instantly landed on the photo fame containing their first team photo. Picking it up, Neji almost snorted at the familiar image. They had all been so nieave and small there. Tenten was in the center of the photo, seemingly being the only one ecstatic to be there – well besides Gai. Even Lee didn't seem to be all that interested, but that had been before the goofball had taken on the green leotard.

Come to think of it, Neji hadn't seen Lee or Gai since he woke up. Had they even been informed of his...uh..arrival? He wondered what they had gotten up to in the previous few years.

Another photo caught the Hyuga's eye, one in a taller, newer frame than the one he was holding. Setting down the one in his hand, Neji Picked up the next one, his eyes widening at the sight of – what he first had thought to be his sensei – but a closer look confirmed it to be Lee.

The picture was of Tenten and a broader-looking Rock Lee, the youth-obsessed man having his green-clad arm hanging off of a brightly, smiling Tenten. The two friends were standing in front of Tenten's store – at that time the building seemed to have a faded paint job.

'This must have been the opening of Tenten's shop,' Neji thought as his eyes continued to trace the picture.

The sound of Tenten's footsteps had the Hyuga lower the picture in his hand, turning to look back a the women carrying a tray.

"Hey, I found some muffins – I wasn't sure if you had breakfast so..." Tenten's words trailed off when she caught what he was holding. A gasp cut through her throat, but she did a good job of stifling it and instead bit into her bottom lip, her eyes going back to find his own.

The two teammates continued to stare at each other, neither one saying a word, but they didn't really need to anyway.

After a moment that felt like forever, Neji retracted his eyes from the strong stare and turned back to the desk. With a gentle movement, the Hyuga placed the frame back on it's place, next to the only other photograph.

"...A think that I've missed a lot more than just Kakashi becoming Hokage."

Tenten watched him, watched his body language, listening to the tone of his voice. Neji didn't sound broken – not like how he had earlier when the first left the hospital. His voice was controlled, neutral even. It meant he was trying.

Tenten knew what that felt like.

A small, honest smile crossed Tenten's face, her grip on the large tray tightening, before she slowly walked over to stand next to the Hyuga, whose eyes caught and followed her as she did. When she was next to him, she set the tray on her desk. She could feel the pale eyes boring down at her, a feeling that both frightened her and eased her at the same time.

Instead of meeting his gaze, Tenten chose to look down at the picture he had been holding – the scene playing in her head at the familiar picture. It had been a special day for her, the day she had finally made her mark in the village – even if it was only a store. She had been so excited, probably the most she had smiled since the accident...if only for a few hours she had forgotten…

"Was that the first opening?" Neji softly asked and Tenten's hazy eyes cleared.

"Yeah," she answered, not needing to ask him what he meant. "...Ino was the one to take the picture. She insisted that we commemorate the day. She had been trying to make me pose all day...it was kinda embarrassing actually."

A soft hum of amusement sounded from the Hyuga. "I can imagine."

Tenten let out a small chuckle at the memory, how annoyed she had been at the blonde, when she was trying so hard to prepare everything – to make it perfect.

"I only gave in when Lee started going against me too," she continued. "But I said he had to be in it with me, I thought it was fair considering he had helped me pull the place together. You should have seen this place when I first bought it."

Neji smiled a small smile, his eyes back on the photograph. "...I'm happy for you." The quiet word had Tenten tilting her head to look back up at him, her chest tightening again despite her protests. Why did this have to be so hard?

"Lee..." Tenten voice cracked. "..You know that day um, Lee said that you were there." Neji's hauntingly pale eyes found hers again and her words went quieter. "He said you were there in spirit...I wanted to believe him."

The Hyuga man's eyes widened for a second, before going warm in understanding – something close to pain held in them. "Tenten."

"I guess we were wrong," Tenten said, a sad smile on her face. It was what made the Hyuga narrow his eyes to the desk again.

"...I wish I had been there. I-"

"Hey," Tenten interrupted him and she couldn't stop her yearning hands from reaching out to do what she had been wanting since she first saw him.

She touched him.

Soft, tan hands gently, almost fearfully grasped pale, strong cheeks. She didn't miss how he swallowed and tensed at the touch, but he didn't stop her, so she gently directed him to face her, finding his eyes.

Neji.

Neji's eyes.

"I'm sorry," Neji murmured and Tenten almost pinched him. He had nothing to apologize for, nothing at all.

Tenten's lips stretched into a watery smile as she looked up at him, her head shaking slowly.

"You're here now."

* * *

 

Naruto let out a long sigh and ran a hand through his short, messy hair.

It was well into the middle of the day already and the blond hero was currently sitting on the ground, a few meters away from Neji's now dug up grave. Sai and his troops had only left about twenty minutes or so ago, but Naruto stayed behind.

They still hadn't found anything.

Naruto had even joined in the digging and searching, only to get nothing out of it. One thing was for sure though – Neji was  _not_  ten feet underground, something he had already accepted at the hospital, but at least now this could help to convince everyone else. He wasn't sure how Hiashi or the other Hyuga's were taking this, but if they did feel doubtful, hopefully this would change that.

He wasn't even sure how Hinata felt about it – he knew she was shocked and overwhelmed, which was natural. The way she acted after seeing her cousin in the hospital – the last Naruto had seen her – she seemed…

Naruto grimaced at the memory. It had been such a long time since he saw Hinata cry like that. It wasn't something he wanted to make a habit of, he just hoped that wouldn't all end in more pain.

Moving his hands from his hair to rub over his face, Naruto closed his eyes in an attempt to think – really think. He had promised Neji that he would find out what happened to him and he wasn't about to go back on it, but he had really been hoping to find something today, maybe a clue. Unfortunately he was going to have to take on a different approach...but where was he supposed to start?

"I figured you'd still be here."

Naruto's eyes slowly opened at the voice, his hands falling to his lap. "Hey, teme," he greeted, not bothering to look back at the raven behind him. He had sensed his strong chakra a while back, his friend wasn't exactly being sneaky. "What are you doing here?"

The sound of crunching grass could be heard as the Uchiha walked over to stand next to the sitting blond. "Wanted to find out if you found anything," the mono tone voice answered.

Naruto nodded, before looking straight over to where Neji's empty grave was. The sun was blazing today and the ninja had to squint to see properly.

"I take it that your silence means you didn't," Sasuke said after a minute.

"Yeah, that's right," Naruto sighed out, eyes tracing the letters that spelled out the once-thought-to-be-dead Hyuga's name. "ANBU troops left a while back," he muttered under his breath. "Sai's gone to speak to Kakashi and to figure out their next move."

"Hn."

"...There was no body Sasuke," Naruto murmured.

"And you think that's proof that this guy's the real Neji?" Sasuke's low voice countered casually.

"No, but it's a start," the blond replied. He knew that a missing body wasn't enough to convince the whole village, but it was something – at least they got that out of today. No. He still needed to find out where Neji had been for all those years, what he had been doing and why he can't remember any of it. Too bad it was easier said than done, he didn't even know where else to look for answers.

"Where are you gonna go from here? Do you have a plan?"

Freaky, how it seemed that Sasuke could sometimes read his thoughts. Sakura had the same power, maybe he was just that predictable?

"Maybe I'll go speak with Neji again," Naruto thought out loud, earning a  _"Tch"_  from the other man. Raising an eyebrow, the blond leaned back to stare at the Uchiha questioningly. "What?"

"I thought the Hyuga couldn't remember anything," Sasuke just about scoffed – well Naruto imagined he would if he wasn't so stoic all the time, but the way he said it was probably the closest Sasuke would get to it.

"Oh come on, Sasuke," Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man towering above him. "Who says Neji won't start to remember after a couple days? The doctor said he just needed some rest to calm down, remember?"

"I remember it being very convenient."

"The guy was almost drained of chakra! Did you expect him to sing what happened to him?"

"Hn."

"You know you can't end all your arguments like that right?" Naruto pouted when Sasuke turned to leave.

"We'll see who's right," Sasuke said as he continued to walk away from his old teammate.

Naruto's pout only deepened as he watched the departing man, before begrungingly jumping to his feet. "Oi! Wait up, I'm coming too!" Naruto yelled out, but unsurprisingly the Uchiha didn't even look over his shoulder and continued walking.

"Teme," Naruto muttered with a scrunched up nose. If only Sasuke had matured as much as he did.

Something that sounded like a snapped twig sounded behind Naruto and the blond swirled around in a flash into a fighting stance, his hands tense behind him and reaching for his kunai. Blue, focused eyes scanned around the graveyard for the source of the sound, but found nothing.

The area was still as silent and empty as before.

Nothing else made a noise after that. Was it just the wind?

After a minute, Naruto's eyes drew back to the grave, something like a cold fever going over his body.

Standing up straighter, Naruto walked a bit closer to the open grave. When his feet stepped onto the abused and grass-less ground, Naruto slowly leaned over the whole.

Nothing.

Blinking, Naruto forcibly shook his head, his shoulders relaxing instantly from the action. What was he doing? They had already made sure that the grave was empty. What? Did he expect to see a zombie or something? The thought had the blond shiver.

With one last look at the empty grave, Naruto sighed once more before turning to try and catch up with Sasuke.

He didn't notice the two figures hiding between the trees watching down on him.

"Did you here that?" One of them asked, their voice quiet.

"I'm not deaf..." the other responded gruffly, before turning his gaze from the jogging blond to his comrad. "The mistress isn't going to like them messing about in this, you know."

"I don't think it'll be a problem," the women huffed. "They won't find anything else."

"...So, are we going after them or what?"

A sly smile replaced the annoyed frown on the others face, before she focused on their new target.

"Obviously. After all...he knows where Neji is."

* * *

**Hi everyone!**

**This is chapter 6 (Sorry for taking so long). School's hectic...**

**Hope you like this chapter, I know it's short, but hopefully the next one will be longer :D**

**Please let me know what you think (Leave a review! Please!)**


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